new thread
Last week I was taking a break in my truck and about 250 yards away there was a large Wal-Mart parking lot with people going in and coming out. Many of the women and some of the men had long hair. From that distance the long hair looked really good, very pretty, however, from that distance the men and women with long hair looked a lot alike. There were a couple of men that had facial hair, thus, there was no mistaking them for female, however from the back there was only one positive way that I could really tell the male from the female and that was a slick bald spot on the back of the head, a clear indication that this is a male. The reason that I mention this at all is that on many sites I hear MPB (male pattern baldness) as a defective gene, however, I beg to differ with this theory. I think that MPB is simply nature doing what is best to insure that a male and female mate. Think about it, thousands of years ago there would not have been many humans in the world and a man might see a potential mate from several hundred yards away. If the potential mate was facing away from him then it could be rather hard to distinguish between the two sexes and the same would apply to a woman searching for a potential mate, which might explain to some degree why the MPB gene is dominant rather than recessive, since the male and female carry the gene and only one parent is required in order to pass the gene along and for the gene to become active.Thus, I conclude that MPB is nothing more than a sexual marker, just the same as the male beard is, furthermore, this seems to explain why the castrated male does not become bald since there is very little male hormone, therefore, there is no real reason for him to develope such sexual markers. I should mention that during a radio broadcast that I heard a Doctor speaking about human genes and he said that it appears that the male and female are becoming more alike. This is not surprising to me considering how life has changed for humans over a great period of time. Either way, MPB sucks!
I don't know. I don't feel less male because I don't currently suffer from this.
Hopefully science will eventually reach the point where this genetic defect can be fixed and eliminated from the human race.
I am sure that hair-loss will be a thing of the past eventually, but when I have no idea. I do know that science is working hard on the matter which is why I have bought stock in some of the research companies doing the work. Sooner the better.
Jeffrey, one thing to consider is the age of sexual maturity. To be effective as a sorting machanism for potential mates baldness would best happen as soon as a man is able to reproduce. Especially in an time when people did not live as often to what we consider middle-age there would have been fewer men living long enough to display baldness.
The traditional tonsure given to monks as a way to mark them as apart from the common man also is an indication to me that the head with bald portions is not as sought after in a mate. The style would not have lasted long if it was counterproductive to keeping a vow of celibacy.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth,
You make some interesting and refreshing points here. Men certainly would have been doing well to even reach 30 during the stone age, or before, however, I have noticed that on sites such as balding blog.com a large number of young men in their teens are experiencing hair-loss. I can't understand why this happens, but it seems like there is a very specific reason for it. To me it seems that if there was no specific reason for MPB then the well defined pattern would not exist. In other words, it seems like MPB has been well planned by nature, but for what purpose? I think that it must be either to attract a mate, or otherwise. Since powerful male hormones are directly involved in MPB I assumed that it may not be so much of an attractant, but rather to distinguish between the two sexes. Even so, a man that experiences MPB can still have long hair, therefore you have both factors: you have a sexual marker, which is the bare scalp and you have long hair as well, which may be a visual attractant. Remember the red rump monkey? As humans we may find this very undesireable, at least most of us, however, other monkeys of this species find this to be a very attractive characteristic. Now, over time should the monkey evolve and become caught up in the web of "what's hot and what's not", then the monkey may become dissatisfied with its appearance and the red rump look may fall out of style. That doesn't mean that the rump is out the window just yet, but the monkey might begin working on the matter just as we humans do with Rogaine, Propecia, etc.
Jeffrey.
There's an assumption of purpose there. MPB can merely the side effect of the actual useful thing- the male hormones. Of course males of other species have male hormones of their own and don't go bald so who knows? Maybe it does do something. My own bald and longhaired guy was telling be about an article speculating beards, baldness, and greasy scalps let men put forth a scary (and gleaming!) appearance to frighten their enemies.
Imagining the results if an infinite number of monkeys posted and infinite number of photos on "Hot or Not",
Elizabeth
Your significant other is correct. Large apes may also have receeding hairlines and this seems to make them look larger and more intimidating. I can understand this happining in the front, however the back is another story. Let me throw this at you. In India, some or the locals wear masks that make them look like they have two faces, one in the front and one in the back. The reason for this is that it greatly reduces tiger attacks. I have often thought that the receeding hairline might make a man look more intimidating and at the same time the bald spot in the back might thwart a tiger attack, or an attack from another large predator. Even though the threat of such animal attacks has long past the genetics may still be there.
Jeffrey.
Aha! Then maybe MPB marks the male as being capable of reaching old age. Males that were "likely to be around for a while" would convey survival benefits.
This reminds me of a Far Side cartoon. A bunch of young gorillas are showering in the gym, and one turns to another and says, "look at that guy, he's already a silver back".