About the hair...

Upon seeing my picture someone asked why it was that only, or usually only, black men can get away with shaving their heads.
It made me wonder a couple things. 1.) Where does the concept come from that we are just "cooler" with our heads shaved, and 2.) what's the big worry about losing your hair anyway?

First of all, I really don't think black men have cornered the market of being bald. I've known plenty of white guys that looked just fine bald. There are a couple issues, however, with how you go about going bald. It's not just a matter of shaving your head to the skin and that's that. No way.
Going bald on purpose is a strategic style initiative undertaken by the brave, confident and dilligent.
First of all, I think one of the reasons for the whole "black guys look better" thing is skin color...not just the fact that we're black, but because quite often white men's scalp skin is a slightly different shade than the rest of their face. This can be easily cured by going bald right at the start of summer and letting your head get used to it. Otherwise the color difference is like a big arrow aiming down at your shiny chrome dome and you look like you're on your way to your next chemo treatment.
Another reason is that we have naturally dark hair, which also ties into the strategy that goes behind going bald. If you're gonna go bald, grow a beard or mustache. It balances out the uniformity of this bald, featureless head with a face sitting in the middle of it. The darker the hair, the more it detracts from any negatives for being bald. And the facial hair, particularly dense facial hair, lets everyone know you could grow a whole mess o' hair if you wanted to. You choose not to. No facial hair leads to people looking at you and going "oh, what happened to your hair?"
And, as I said, the darker the hair the better. A blonde guy with a mustache and a bald head doesn't usually pass the bald test (that being whether, occasionally, a hot woman comes along and wants to feel your head...if this ever happens to you then you know going bald was the right move). Hair that's too pale, or too thin, disappears against your face. And if it's thin and scraggly it enforces the impression that your baldness is due to a lack of rogaine instead of personal initiative.
So, make sure your head's all one color, and that you have some nice, dark facial growth, and most white guys can go bald with pride....that is unless you have a peanut-shaped head...in which case you're just screwed and that's that.
Now, why do we care?
Well, the answer with why men care about virtually anything always comes back to one thing: Women.
For some reason we believe that women don't find balding men very attractive. Now that may be true if you have a receding hairline or a big bald spot in the middle of your head. But if you go all the way bald and follow the above tips you look a bit edgy and dangerous...or at least brave and willing to do your own thing.
Women, universally, have accepted bald black men as a societal staple. There are some women who will even preface their description of a handsome black man as requiring that he be bald as part of the enticement.
We've had Isaac Hayes working for us since the 70s, and that's a powerful force, despite his Scientology ties. Who have white guys had in their corner for bald style? Telly Savalis. Sometimes he was cool, other times he looked like Dr. Evil with a lollypop. So you've got some catching up to do.
In the end though, it's about virility. Most of what we find attractive, even when we don't know it, is directly tied to how good a breeder that other person seems to be.
Healthy hair indicates a healthy body which could mean healthy genes.
Ironically, on a cultural level, big bald guys also give a symbol of virility, but more in the "raid your village, take the women and ravage them" sort of way. However, if you're somewhere in between, with just a bald, fading spot, then you look more like Friar Tuck, which screams celibacy....