In 2005, at the age of 25, Fab Arm, a Toulouse rowing enthusiast, understood that he would never be called “Chaton Buckles of Gold” again. Like one in four men (IFOP data, 2015), he discovers that he is suffering from androgenetic alopecia… A term which is sufficiently disruptive to require explanations from his dermatologist.
“The hair has a shorter lifespan, so it grows less and becomes thinner and thinner., explains doctor Philippe Abimelec, a scalp specialist for over thirty years. As this miniaturization progresses, it disappears. ” For three years, Fab Arm will try to camouflage his bald spots, under the skeptical gaze of his rowing friends who will end up tying him up … to give him a first stroke of the mower. ” “There you go, you will go to the office like this if you don’t finish yourself”, they told me. “
With his ball at zero, Fab Arm is now part of the 14% of the male population over 18 years – or approximately 3.5 million individuals – who have chosen not to “bring the suburbs to the city center”. This trick, otherwise called “bar code”, particularly appreciated by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing before falling into disuse, consists in bringing the lateral locks of the temples towards the region of the top of the head.
Virility, charisma and leadership
Today, rather than hiding, we show. The shaved head, practical and efficient, appeals to balding men. After gradually emancipating itself from the skinhead ideology, this style endorsed by the heroes of action films, Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, is now acclaimed by prominent business leaders such as Jeffrey Katzenberg. , co-founder of DreamWorks studios, or Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.
Shave your head “Turned out to be a high-yield marketing choice”, admitted a few years ago Seth Godin, the American marketing pope whose perfect globe has become a recognizable logo on the cover of his bestsellers. According to a study by the Wharton School, the Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, published in October 2012, a shaved head is a guarantee of virility, charisma and leadership.
“I was 27 years old, I ran a hand through my hair, I felt a smooth patch and I said to myself: it’s over, we must abdicate! »The actor Eric Judor
However, the conversion of the bald man into a bonze is not trivial. Postponed after camouflage attempts that did not withstand the wind (the wicks folded over the frontal gulfs of Emmanuel Macron) or the heat (the black shoe polish that ran down the cheeks of Donald Trump’s lawyer and former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, at a press conference, November 20, 2020), the first shave is often experienced as ” a parachute jump “ or ” a trauma “, “A September 11” for some people, “An amputation” for others. Anyway, “Astonishment”, according to Julien Mondhard, an entrepreneur who had the impression of “To make a huge mistake on a whim” and kept his cap on for the next twenty-four hours.
You have 65.21% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.