If you thought that fretting over one’s hair is solely a feminine hang-up, think again! According to the ‘Dove Men+Care 2017 Men’s Hair Census’, eight out of 10 men in the U.S. see their hair as an important reflection of their personal style, and as something that helps them look both masculine and professional. And this finding is quite hair-raising: one in five men admitted feeling jealous of a friend’s hair and would give up drinking for a month if it meant having stronger and healthier hair!
For this census, the beauty giant Dove commissioned author and comedian W. Kamau Bell to question men across all 50 U.S. states about their attitudes toward their manes. “Hair is a big part of my identity and the Census really proves how, as a culture, guys are putting an importance on the look and style of their hair,” said Bell in a statement. “I was surprised that men from all walks of life held hair in such a high regard, and yet reflect their identity through hair in many different ways.”
So if you are a closet hair perfectionist, you’re actually in the majority. A whopping 90 per cent of men in the survey admitted to touching up their hairstyle in the mirror at least once a day. Six out of 10 wish they had healthier-looking hair and the same percentage style their hair every day, preferring to use hair gel, hair spray or pomade.
And whom did these men name as examples of best male manes? Soccer players. Take a look at Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and of course, David Beckham. Manly men with manly hair, and by the looks of it, all manes dense and well styled.
So why do men shy away from talking about their hair even though it’s important to their identities and confidence? Maybe because hair is still such an enormous female obsession—one literally hovering on a verge of fetishism. Although to me healthy, well-groomed hair is important, to women it’s literally a matter of life and death. Females have been known to lock themselves in their homes until a bad haircut grows out, and travel hours to a hairstylist that can be relied on to style their hair just right. And that compulsion goes back to times when healthy hair was a sign of desired female fertility and sexuality. Yep, the more things change, the more they remain the same!
Stay tuned for part 2 of 3 next week “Balding? Here’s What’s Happening”
