# Do you have a negative reaction to white guys with shaved heads? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917 "2015-04-17T15:27:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/21 "2015-04-17T18:56:24Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Nah, not unless it’s accompanied by several other hints that you might be a Neo-Nazi. Until then, I’d assume you don’t like hair, or are more advanced on the bald route than I am. > > And there’s really no sure fire way to make a good first impression. I was once asked if I was a skinhead, when my hair was grown way past my shoulder blades (seriously, no exaggeration). Let me guess, it was the hobnailed cherry-coloured boots plus the swastikas, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/22 "2015-04-17T19:11:28Z")
I briefly dated a girl with a shaved head (gorgeous, btw). I will admit, we got some strange looks when we were out in public. 😉 I’m sure some thought we were a Neo-Nazi couple. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/23 "2015-04-17T19:18:48Z")
I’m slightly peladophobic, due to a bald man who attempted to snatch me when I was a child walking home from school. I can overcome it with a small amount of effort, but my first impression is always ‘oh no’. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/24 "2015-04-17T19:21:56Z")
I wouldn’t notice. A lot of guys had shaved heads in the military. I keep my hair very short (high and tight. Zero on the sides, one on top). Now, if you also had a “I hate niggers, Jews, and all brown people” I might think otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Lemmytheseal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lemmytheseal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemmytheseal2)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/25 "2015-04-17T19:44:39Z")
The original skinheads were not neo-Nazis, and there were some black skinheads among them (though some of the skins were known to bash South Asians and gays.) These days, many skins are fiercely anti-racist. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/26 "2015-04-17T21:17:53Z")
It’s pretty common around here. On young guys it still makes me think “probably a testosterone-fueled jerk.” On old guys it makes me think “he’s old & innocuous / ineffectual.” On middle-aged guys it could go either of those ways. It’s also something I associate with predominantly working class folks unless they’re distinctly elderly-looking, and then it’s just nature taking its course. Someone certainly \*can \*offset all these preconceptions / prejudices with dress, speech, actions, car, etc., but why have to? Unless they fit you and the persona you want to project. And in 20ish years when I get old enough to be down to just thin wisps over (and coming out of!) my ears I’ll reluctantly join the innocuous / ineffectual crowd with a shaved head too. Bottom line: I think it’s a style that’s mostly downsides and no upside for many (most?) guys. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/27 "2015-04-17T21:38:39Z")
I have coolguy hair and a beard from about October to March, because it gets friggin’ cold here. I shave it pretty short (not to the skin) for motorcycle season, because otherwise my poncy hairdo gets mushed by the helmet and it is not a good look. At this point I also go for a little bit of stubble. The ladies seem to like it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/28 "2015-04-17T22:33:42Z")
How old are you? On a guy aged 50+ it can look good IMHO. People expect older men to have bald spots and shaving the rest of it off is an accepted way of dealing with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/29 "2015-04-17T22:37:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s pretty common around here. > > On young guys it still makes me think “probably a testosterone-fueled jerk.” Really?? Simply due to the shaved head and nothing else? I find that weird. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/30 "2015-04-17T22:56:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > On old guys it makes me think “he’s old & innocuous / ineffectual.” See, I have an older friend who has a bald head and a (white) goatee. _fans self_ It’s how he carries himself. And a well-cut suit doesn’t hurt anything. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/31 "2015-04-18T00:26:05Z")
Only on young ones. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/32 "2015-04-18T01:32:40Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I often get asked if I “used to be in the military”. This is due to me being in a wheelchair. With my shaved head, people often assume I was injured in combat. One of these days I’m going to have some fun with it. I probably shouldn’t though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/33 "2015-04-18T02:05:23Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Let me guess, it was the hobnailed cherry-coloured boots plus the swastikas, right? 😉 Nope, was wearing black boots, never owned a different color as an adult. 🙂 The leather jacket being covered with a bunch of painted on graphics probably prompted the question, and us being at the height of a Nazi plague made it forgivable. They were really nice after the response was, “Nope, got hair!” ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917/34 "2015-04-18T02:48:02Z")
I have more scalp than hair naturally since the meds killed it all off and at some point I’ll probably just shave it down. It is so much more the norm these days that no one really notices. I can remember as a kid maybe knowing 3 people with shaved heads. Now its more like 30 or more that I know well enough to name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-negative-reaction-to-white-guys-with-shaved-heads/717917.md?page=1)