A Hairy Subject

Men, are you suffering from hair loss? That’s the way the ad copy reads – suffering. A reader sent me this link a few weeks ago. Neither of us knew whether to laugh or cry.

The subject is the age-old search for a baldness cure. After the usual silly introductory story, The New Yorker, to show the seriousness of the situation, states that in 2013, “German researchers published a study indicating that men experienced hair loss as an ‘enormous emotional burden’ that could lead to an ‘impaired quality of life’ and ‘psychological disorders’.” Also mentioned was that people are more likely to vote for a (male) political candidate who has a full head of hair.

So this is scary for two reasons.  First, so many men are frightened of losing their hair that they support the hair-growth industry to the tune of $3.6 billion a year. But the only thing they are buying is the promise of slower hair loss – not actual hair growth – along with a “small risk of serious side effects.” Imagine what will happen when someone actually comes up with a way to grow back hair!  Imagine the suffering it will prevent!

Second, it’s just another indication that, despite what we try to teach our children about not judging a book by its cover, voters are so superficial that appearance wins out over competence.

The real message here is not about the hair but about the suffering. In the article they write about how the problem has a history all the way back to early Rome and Biblical times. But I doubt that common men, who were struggling to stay alive every day, were very worried about their hairiness or lack thereof. For most of recorded history the standard of living was relatively stagnant for ordinary people.  From generation to generation they had to struggle just to stay alive, to keep their family fed, clothed, sheltered and safe from bandits and raiders. The few technological advances prior to the industrial revolution primarily affected the wealthy.  Today things have changed and the regular working stiff has the luxury of “suffering” from hair loss – facing the “enormous emotional burden.”

Additionally, today, in contrast to the near-stagnant pace of progress in earlier times, changes take place from generation to generation at an ever-accelerating rate. I recently stopped in to see an 81-year-old friend. When he was born, a few Americans could buy a bulky, 12-inch black and white television for the equivalent of nearly $8,000 in today’s money. It was another 20 years before half the families in America owned a single television. Today almost no one is without access to at least one TV, to do without is considered a sacrifice. Last month the World Health Organization suggested that “gaming addiction” should be classified as a mental health condition. From TVs being exceedingly rare to gaming addiction within one lifetime, and that’s just one example.

Last week I stopped at Subway and took along the change container I keep in my car. When I paid, the woman behind the counter asked the young man she was working with if he recognized it. He hadn’t a clue. It was a plastic container used for 35mm (camera) film. Kids laugh at grandparents when they get confused using an iPhone; grandparents laugh at kids when they don’t comprehend terms like “dial the phone,” “roll down the car window” or even “floppy disk.”  That's the rate of change we have to keep up with in a single generation.

As a result of all this rapid change, the definition of suffering has been watered down to the point where losing one’s hair, not having air conditioning on a hot day, giving up TV for a week, back acne, sinus problems or not having therapy dogs and teddy bears at final exam time are considered suffering. It makes people weep, protest or spend billions of dollars – all for lack of perspective.