Genes which are deleterous to the progeny are eventually phased out.
So in very basic terms, if you were a bacteria with no resistance to penecillin, the next generation can only be those which are not killed by penecillin, those who have the genes for resistance
Being bald does not kill you.
Your question is about as arbitrary as why the gene for (insert common eye colour here) eyes still persists.
That is something of an oversimplifcation; for example, a mutated gene that results in sterility might not kill the individual, but it prevents the individual from having progeny, so it would be phased out.
IF baldness was evident before breeding occurred, AND IF baldness was universally shunned, then it would have phased itself out, but it isn’t and it isn’t, so it hasn’t.
Rusalka is arguing from false premises.
This isn’t a valid conclusion. Any men who procreate and then go bald would pass on the gene (if there is one). It would be a valid argument that youthful baldness could be evolved out, if it was actually such a repulsive trait as to prevent procreation, but I don’t believe that’s true either.
Rusalka I think you have made several bad assumptions and that is what is causing your confusion:
First:
Because as others have mentioned, baldness IS NOT generally a sign of sickness or non-fitness. In fact, given that it is often tied to elevated testosterone levels, one could argue that the exact opposite is true. Given their possibly greater physical stength and sexual virility, young men destined to go bald may have been considered as MORE fit mates.
Second:
Here I think you are off base as well. The traits that men consider beautiful have everything to do with their fitness as a mate. Clear skin, symetrical features, proper waist to hip ratio are all indicitive of good health and reproductive fitness and are all also generally considered beautiful.
This really just boils down to the point that baldness might make people less attractive but certainly does not make them completely untenable as mates.
Bald men clearly do still procreate and have done so quite happily throughout the ages. It may be tougher for them to find a partner but in itself baldness doesn’t prevent reproduction.
Speaking as someone who has (in the past) intentionally shaved his head, I can assure you that it didn’t do me any harm. I guess my sparkling personality must have carried the day…
Nope. That’s a common belief - we’ve all heard that it comes from your mother’s father - but it’s false. I payed close attention in my genetics class the day we discussed it. Not because I needed the information, you understand. It was for, uh, a friend. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Anyway, baldness is a simple autosomal trait, meaning the inheritance pattern has nothing to do with gender. But, it’s very sensitive to testosterone, so it’s dominant in males, but recessive in females. And even when females have two copies of the gene, it’s expressed much less severely. They tend to get just thin hair rather than full-on baldness.
[note to self] Continue drinking water at work, as it does not make monitors and keyboards sticky. [/note to self]
To be fair, there are some examples of “attractive” traits in humans which do not directly relate to fitness. Many men, for example, find long hair attractive in women (the reverse can also be true, but I think it’s not as common). But what purpose does long hair serve? From all I understand, it’s just a human equivalent to a peacock’s tail: Men prefer long-haired women, because that means that they’ll have more long-haired daughters, who will in turn attract mates more easily, because men prefer long-haired women.
But this still isn’t relevant to the discussion at hand, for two reasons that you’re probably sick of hearing about by now. First, in most men who go bald, it occurs after they’ve already done most or all of their reproducing. Yes, a man can father children at any age, but most don’t. There’s a reason that Viagra is so popular, you know. And even in those cases where a man does have children at a great age, his mate may have selected him years before. Very few men are already going noticeably bald by the time of their wedding. This is in contrast to long hair or the other traits found attractive in women, most of which are obvious from puberty or earlier.
Second, baldness isn’t nearly as big of a turnoff as you’re thinking. The claim that it’s “universally” considered unattractive is quite blatently false, as proven by the women so far on this thread who have stated that they actually prefer bald men. Even if some women do prefer men with a full head of hair, that’s at least partially, if not totally, offset by women with the opposite preference.
Thanks Bruce_Daddy. It’s nce to be appreciated. 
Most men have hair when men and women are young, and older women dont care if men are bald.
The answer everyone is overlooking is that not everything has to do with evolution. The reaction to baldness is social conditioning, not an evolutionary trait.
Twenty years ago, no one shaved their heads. Now it’s becoming common as hair styles change. Even men who aren’t bald often shave their head to emulate someone like Michael Jordan. It isn’t that outlandish to think that a shaven head becomes the norm (it has been in various societies at various points in history). And then, Rusalka, you’ll be asking why men have hair, since most women find it unattractive.
There is nothing more variable then length of hair. Trying to look for an evolutionary explanation is like looking for an evolutionary explanation for hemlines.
If baldness is no big deal, then why do men worry about it? Why the obsession with baldness cures? Why do some groups of people have very low incidences of male-pattern baldness? (i.e., people of native american extraction)
Yes. Three in fact.
well, if you really want to ask the baldness issue and why people obssess with it…that is merely just asking about modern man and his idiocy of using other people’s insecurities to make a dollar. It has NOTHING to do with biological evolution (social evolution however is a WHOLE other ballgame). I mean, c’mon, this same exact arguments could be made replacing the words “baldness” with “penis size”. Think about it…there’s lots of products and ads for a bigger penis out there…is there a biological reason for differing sizes? *I vote for the size of the penis being dependant on the size of animals one had to fight off for food in the wild …hehe. So stop fretting about the baldness thing…I got the traits to never worry about that one…scottish cherokee…the hairest dang Injun you’ll ever meet. lol.
You keep assuming what you think is what everybody thinks. There are plenty of women who dislike beards everywhere but I have found out this to be especially true in China. The assumption that women prefer non-bald guys does not wash either. My sister married a very bald and ugly guy possibly based on the fact that he is (a) very charming, (b) very intelligent and © very successful. I believe most women would go for a guy like that over a jerk with a full head of hair, any time.
Society and bigoted people like you that think balding people are inferior make balding people worry about it.
Let’s face it: There are plenty of plain, unattractive, and flat-out ugly men and women today–and statistically perhaps more in the past. If we accept your (tenditious) argument that baldness has always been unfavorable, you also have to consider that there were/are so many people with unattractive physical characteristics that they simply could not be selective. A fat ugly frumpy young woman is in no position to hold out for a hunk.
Give me a big enough marketing budget, and I can turn Baldness into an attractive American characteristc within 10 years! Who knew body piercing would become a trait? I’ll have the next generation of kids shaving their heads, and we’ll see an explosion of Hair Removal Salons. It’s called FASHION, and NOT wanting to look/act like our parents!
Epimetheus, that ad hominem attack was really uncalled for. I stressed repeatedly that baldness doesn’t bother me personally, but that I see it viewed negatively in society at large. Sheesh.
“Why has the baldness trait persisted?”
That’s simple. Because bald men sometimes have money, fame or power. Therefore, they still reproduce.