Many of them spent years fighting it. But on Saturday, they came bald and proud of it.
Around 100 bald people (mostly men, but some women) met in Washington Square Park in Manhattan for a unique gathering to take a stand: being bald is nothing to be ashamed of.
As rain came down, bald men who usually wear hats said they had left them at home.
There was no need to hide themselves here.
“My name is Phil and I’m bald,” Phil Myers, a comedian, said to a crowd that had broken out into cathartic chants of “Bald is beautiful!” and “Bald! Bald! Bald!”
Justin Bradford, a freelance video producer and organizer of the “Bald Meet-Up,” sold “I Love New York” T-shirts, the heart replaced by a bald head.
“I’m not going to say bald people are looked down upon, but sometimes people think you’re kind of unfortunate,” said Mr. Bradford, 31. “I don’t think that’s the case at all, especially when we’re all together.”
Mr. Bradford ran a similar meet-up in Seattle this month, inspired by an internet-fueled outpouring of celebrity look-alike contests and other viral gatherings for not-quite affinity groups, including tall people and anyone named Ryan.
The events have drawn people off their phones and into places where they could find, at least for an afternoon, a new community.
Attendees cheered “One of us!” as Nina Wall, 25, got her head shaved.
“I found this so empowering,” Ms. Wall said on Saturday. “Hair is just hair. Appreciate every stage you’re in.”
Social media has created jokes about baldness, with accounts monitoring the receding hairlines of famous people.
But the internet has also brought bald people together, including on a popular Reddit page with over a million users that supports those shaving their head for the first time, which Mr. Bradford called a real “change in your identity.”
Male-pattern baldness affects up to half of men by age 50, and studies have shown the condition can lead to low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.
In his early years as a bald man, Mr. Bradford said, he’d wear hats on dates, planning them only in places where hats were appropriate.
“You have no control over it,” he said of his lack of hair. “It’s hard for some people to accept that.”
Arian Walker, 36, went bald as a teenager and had tried Rogaine, which left stains on all his towels.
“Shaving my head worked out,” Mr. Walker said. “I can just get up and go.”
Allies showed up in bald caps.
“I support bald people,” said Grace Eastwood, 29, who had bought the caps on Amazon for her, a sister and a friend. “For the men in my life, if they go bald, I don’t want them to feel bad.”
Joseph Gonzalez, 38, said he had always given a “subtle nod” when he saw a fellow bald man. He said he wanted to attend the gathering to “be part of a real count.”
Mr. Bradford had planned look-alike contests of two bald icons — Pitbull and Michael Jordan — but the turnout was too far below a 900-plus RSVP list online.
Still, Mr. Bradford had proudly given his bald head a fresh shave ahead of what he called the best day of his life.
“I was kind of memeing it,” Mr. Bradford said about organizing the event. “But this actually means something to people.”
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