Without hair, will I look masculine? I have androgenic alopecia, or female pattern baldness. So, I still have a decent amount of hair all over my head. I have retained a normal hairline. However my hair is thinning on the top, the upper sides, and the top back. I have about twice as much hair on the back ring of my head as on the top.…

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Have you thought about the costs of maintaining hair? I have been maintaining a head of hair all my life, without complaint either, because good hair is a fabulous asset and always seemed worth the effort. But recently, with diminishing hair, I have been exploring the upsides of being hairless. One big upside, money savings! The economics of maintaining hair are appealing when you plot it all out. Take for example my hair maintenance routine (if I was being maximally careful... of course… Continue

Last week was National Coming Out Day (on October 11). I work on a University campus, and since campuses are known for social outreach it was a well documented and discussed event. For those of you that don't know, National Coming Out Day is an awareness day focusing on discussion about the coming out process for Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered and Question individuals, especially teenagers and youth.



In reaction to the tragic bullying-induced suicides of recent, this year there… Continue

Oh geez. I am a bit of a nervous, indecisive wreck right now. I am getting a haircut on Saturday, my first since my doctor's visits confirmed my female pattern hair loss earlier this summer. Also, and more importantly than the doctor's diagnosis, this is my first haircut since I started obsessively analyzing my head with a hand mirror and identifying every thin spot. And to make matters more unsettling, I am working with a new stylist, and I have no idea of her qualifications for working with… Continue

I have female pattern hair loss. It is an unfortunate situation in which my hair follicles are sensitive to the androgen hormones in my body, and therefore these silly follicles wither over time. In the process, they take my head of hair from full and healthy to thin and diffused. The good news is that this hair withering is not a health issue. I am still very healthy. My endocrine system seems fine. My ovaries are pumping out the correct hormones to keep my reproductive system in functional… Continue

What do you consider your female pattern baldness? Is it a disease? A condition? A genetic abnormality? A cosmetic inconvenience? A simple fact of life?



I am struggling to decide how I view it. On one hand, for those of us with androgenic alopecia, I am not sure our hair loss can qualify as a disease. We have female pattern balding, and as much as it sucks, is it an illness? I would never consider a balding man to be sick. So is a balding woman ill?



And in thinking about… Continue

Last night I went out to dinner with my husband and a friend with my head completely wrapped up in a scarf, as though I might not have any hair on my head.



Except, of course, I do still have hair on my head. So maybe it was weird to go public with my head wrapped?



Weird or not, I am glad I did. I have been wrapping my head up at home over the past few weeks, both as a means to cover my hair so I stop trying to look at it all the time in every reflective surface, and also… Continue