Young, Bald and Kicking Ass: Alex Clark
This is part 1 of our series on young, bald men who kick ass. I met Alex at a party in Seoul and was just blown away by his confidence and demeanor. His interview and photographs follow. If you are interested in becoming part of this series and live close to Jacksonville, Florida, please contact us.
Alex Clark
But I don’t care what you do. Keep making excuses and not rocking your bald-ass and I will keep being the happy bald guy in a sea of sad dudes.
DWMH: Because you are a person first, please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?
My name is Alex Clark. Other names that I have been called: Egg, Voldemort, Lex Luthor and the ever-so-creative Baldy. I am a twenty-six-year-old dude living and teaching in South Korea. I like to write and create things. Apparently, I also like modeling. However, this is a new interest of mine.
DWMH: So our editors discovered you at a party. Have you ever done any modeling?
I had never done any modeling. One time in college, I posed for a friend’s film project but I would hardly consider it modeling. There are many things in life you don’t know you are capable of until an outside influence tells you so. This is what I thought of modeling before a fantastic and motivating photographer told me to think about it.
DWMH: At what age did you first begin to notice your hair loss? How did it make you feel? How did you initially respond?
In high school, I first began to get insults from friends and enemies about a mysterious bald spot on the top of my head. Of course, I could not see it but apparently, everyone could. Then, the hairline began to recede and by graduation, I had a thin head of hair on the top. Still respectable but slowly fading. In college, I tried to emulate hairstyles but simply found myself unable to. At 19, I shaved my head with barber clippers and no guard a few weeks before the end of my teenage years. It was iconic and ritualistic in a sense.
DWMH: Did you ever take any treatments for hair loss?
I tried topically applied Rogaine which was one of those things that I spent hours of my life doing but probably never did anything. I never tried anything internally as everyone scoffed that I was too young. As for homeopathy, nothing as well. It all happened too quickly.
DWMH: Do you feel like your hair loss ever affected your dating life?
There was a certain element of shearing something from that I was clinging to. A part of modern life that seemed to matter but in the end doesn’t. After shaving my head, it was as if I grabbed the reigns of my own destiny. I felt empowered in a way.
You worry about these things and then you lose them or they are taken from you and then you realize you didn’t need them, to begin with. I think there is a nugget of life philosophy somewhere in shaving your head if you are losing your hair. After shaving, things only improved.
DWMH: How did you find your confidence and come to terms with your hair loss?
I had taken enough abuse that I had grown used to it. Also, being in the company of those that were also losing their hair was good for me. I went to a small high school so I was the only one that was somewhat known for balding. When I went to college, I took solace in the company of fatter people, uglier people, shyer people, people who didn’t know me, people who didn’t care, people with less hair, etc.
I never really came to terms with it until I accepted who I was and just shaved it. This was also a period of my life where I was heavy into self-improvement. What I learned, however, was that sometimes self-improvement is stripping things away. In this case, my hair.
In addition, I was dedicating time to mastering other aspects of life—my social life, my health, my mind. Developing these made me realize one thing: it is all in your head.
DWMH: What advice would you give other young guys out there who might think hair loss will ruin their chances with girls?
Wow. I could write a book. For starters, don’t let it. I can hear you already. “What do you mean, ‘don’t let it?’” There are a thousand variables when it comes to how you are perceived as a person and how attractive you are. I don’t know for certain but I would rank your hairstyle as being in the bottom 20%.
People are not here to read a diatribe so I will sum it up in three ways:
1) Look around you while listening to your own excuses. Look at the fat guy with the gorgeous girlfriend. The short guy who is successful. The handicapped guy who learned to walk again. The ugly, the boring, etc. They found a way around their excuses and shortcomings. You can too.
2) Listen to your own standards. When I moved to Korea, someone told me that Korean girls didn’t like bald guys. For a while, I actually believed it. I bought into the social norms and submitted to the matrix. I was making the fatal mistake of listening to someone else’s standards. What people say is attractive is not always what they feel is attractive. Society has done this. Accept it and see things with your own awesome lens.
3) Be awesome. Yeah, yeah. Your mom says you are awesome already. Well, if you are making excuses for your hair, you are momentarily not awesome. Actually, dedicate time and energy to being a better person. Take time to assess your life and where your faults lie. Then, attack them relentlessly. The self-confidence that comes with getting your shit together will move you beyond your shallow hair worries. Improve yourself, bottom line.
Anything you want to become, there is a resource for achieving that on the Internet. Feel alone because you are losing your hair? Check. Getting in shape? Check. Less lazy? Check. Worried voice about being bald? Check. Afraid of girls? Check.
Maybe these are none of your worries or maybe you are kidding yourself.
But I don’t care what you do. Keep making excuses and not rocking your bald-ass and I will keep being the happy bald guy in a sea of sad dudes.
DWMH: Finally, any fashion or grooming tips for your bald brothers in the world?
If you are not ready to use a razor on your dome, use barber clippers with no guard.
When I shave with a razor, I have to do it in the shower and it does take a long time because I still have a decent head of hair on the sides. The top takes about ten seconds.
I think the beauty of baldness is the leanness of it all. No more shampoo. No more conditioner. Might as well stay lean and focus on what matters most instead of worrying about how to take care of your bald head.
Wear sunblock if outside. If you moisturize your face, just continue up to your shining peak and moisturize that as well. No need to get fancy.
Also, don’t let it get too shiny if you want to avoid jokes about being blinded by your bald head.
When you shave, don’t hide under a hat immediately. Rock it for a while and let hats be a fashion accessory, not a turtle shell.
No one really believes you aren’t balding and no one really cares either.
Dude, Where's My Hair 