Steven Heller Reflects on Baldness on His 76th Birthday

On his 76th birthday, Steven Heller republished a vintage Daily Heller column on the joy of baldness. He reflects on going bald over 50 years ago and explores the cultural significance of hair and its absence. In 2018, he wrote an essay for Design Observer on men's hair as a design affect, citing famous hairstyles as branding. Hair has consequences: scalping as trophy and punishment, nonconformity vs. uniformity, and as currency. It distinguishes class, race, religion, and politics. Donald Trump and John F. Kennedy used hair as brand components. Baldness, however, strips away these signifiers. Heller recalls distrusting bald men as a kid. Military recruits get shaved heads for uniformity; convicts are shaved to prevent lice. Some bald people don't care about being cool. His father claimed baldness signaled intelligence but got a hair transplant at 50. Pattern baldness is genetic; shaving is preferable to a receding look. The column includes a quiz identifying bald figures: Leonardo da Vinci portrait, Heller himself, Jeff Bezos, Dr. Evil, Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas, Charles Darwin, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Stewart, an unknown, Benito Mussolini, Nikita Khrushchev, Mr. Clean, Charles Foster Kane, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.