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A new word for us!
I think we should have a new word for people without hair due to alopecia. It's unfair that there is such a negative tone inherent in the word "bald" it seems to refer to a defficiency. We are not defficient, but different. There is no reason why we should have negative feelings toward ourselves or our condition. Hair is just hair and our look is our own. Wouldn't it be nice if instead of 'bald spots' we had 'love spots'? or we were 'hair-free' instead of bald? Just a thought.. Let us begin this language revolution!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Carol on
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There will always be a negative stigma about being bald as it reminds most people of aging and mid-life crisis. I think the term "alopecian" is pretty cool, it shows just how individual we are, like a tribe. I enjoy my slick melon very much and I've called myself hairless (like an expensive cat) or follicly challenged. Since a wig can be referred to as a rug, I often say my head is bare wood (knock on wood). I think as long as you can have fun with it yourself, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.
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Permalink Reply by kastababy on -
Sorry, bald is bald -- I don't need a new word that is more "sensitive to my needs" or "politically correct" to describe myself to anyone. You are absolutely right in that hair is just hair -- and words only have as much power as you allow them to have. So much of our society has been screwed up because we have to make everything politically correct for sensitive to others' feelings -- damn that! Use "alopecian" if it makes you feel better (I use that term myself quite a bit and actually like it), but dammit, BALD IS BALD!!!
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Permalink Reply by Eric Bondy on -
And alas you have misconstrued my intentions in this discussion. I was merely stating that the word 'bald' has a negative connoation in our society and would wish that that negative connotation were separate from myself, since i find nothing negative about alopecia or the people who have it. It has nothing to do with not 'offending sensetive people' or political correctness it is merely a jovial comment about the word and how people perceive the word. Much like the word 'disease' it carries with it an instant negative feeling which is felt by all who hear, read, say or think it. Words are not what have the power, but the connotative meanings we all, as a society, have for those words. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions which are evoked by certain words have a lot of power, and i would rather a possitive first impression than a negative one. I do agree that western culture has gone to a ridiculous degree when it comes to euphamistic jargon, but that's not what this is about ;)
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Permalink Reply by Daria on -
I don't know guys...."alopecian" reminds me of someone or something from Outer Space!!!! LOL
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Permalink Reply by Lee on -
I dont like the word Bald either...I just like to say "I dont have hair" lol whatever gets us through I guess.
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Permalink Reply by kastababy on
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I still maintain my stance that by embracing the word "bald" rather than running away from it or trying to find another word to describe it, we remove the negative connotations that are generally associated with it. I am too much of a control freak in my own life to let what someone else's word associations are have that big of an influence in my life. My mother and my grandmother always told me that words only have as much power as you allow them to have, and I have found that to be very true over the years. So whenever anyone says "Oh look, you're bald," My reply to that is "Yeah, I AM -- so what??"
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Permalink Reply by Eric Bondy on
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Your still thinking that this is about what other people think? It's not I don't care what they think about it. I just don't like the word. It's not special enough. It doesn't roll of the tongue, it's nearly crass in connotation. I just don't like it. so there:P
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Permalink Reply by Eric Bondy on
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I'm not bald.. i'm hairless! i'll find me a hairless wife, get some hairless cats, shave the dog and live a hair free life! boo! to hair!
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Permalink Reply by Matt on -
For someone with AU, "bald" just doesn't cut it. Connotations aside, while it's accurate, it's not specific enough. "Alopecian" is more accurate, but too clinical. Also, it sounds like a breed of dog. ;)
I sometimes joke with my more open-minded friends that I represent the "next stage in human evolution". Not sure how I'd condense that down to a simple descriptor, though. "Genetically advanced" is too ambiguous.
I tend to fall back on "hairless", but "hair-free" sounds more positive, so I may adopt that. Thanks Eric!
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Permalink Reply by Eric Bondy on
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I too have been known to suggest that we are the next evolution of humanity.. i do belive I posted that somewhere on the site already..
Alopecian is too clinical and really jargonous and will be confused easily with Appalachian. Mountains.. us.. not really the same thing. Unless they are deforested!
Not being specific enough was what I meant by unspecial, I had actually written a sentence very similar to that into my previous message but opted to leave it out.
So guess i'll say that great minds think a-like and i'm glad you understand the over-all meaning of this discussion.
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Permalink Reply by Cheryl, Co-founder on -
Hair-free... I kind of like that even more than hairless. Hair-free works for me.
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