Last night on Jay Leno he did a bit about why products at the 99 cent store might be 99 cents. In this segment he shows a "fashion doll", somewhat like a Barbie, and after he opened it, showed why it was only 99 cents. The doll only had long hair around its head and none in the center.

He joked perhaps one could do a comb over ala Donald Trump; the usual yuks. Then he stated "Maybe its an alopecia doll I dont know". I found this incredibly insensitive and insulting. Believe me, I have a sense of humor and I have often made fun of myself and my bald head. Its difficult enough dealing with having alopecia, but more so for children. The alopecian community has worked hard at trying to get alopecia dolls created so that kids who have it have something that resembles them. Of course the audience laughed, and I'll bet 99% of them don't know what alopecia is. The sad part is that there are a lot of us, including myself, who at one point looked like that doll and I find no humor in that. That is the point in alopecia where we realize what's what and have to deal with it. In my case I accepted it and moved on. Others not so aware. I found his statement highly insensitive and totally not funny. You can see the clip here; Jay Leno 99 Cent Store bit

Alopecians I am sure make up a good deal of of Jay Leno's viewing audience. I think it a good idea that we write to NBC with this regard. I am writing and asking for a public apology.