At some point in every man’s life, he has to deal with the fact that his body is changing. Of all the changes, the earliest and most obvious of them is the receding hairline. Often a subject of jokes, receding hairlines are commonplace among men. I spoke to four Nigerian men about how they really felt about their changing hairlines.
Ik, 27
My hairline started receding in secondary school when I was in JSS 2. My friend pointed it out for the first time then. He also made fun of my forehead. I was pretty shook at the time although I didn’t let it affect my confidence. I found it to be quite annoying when people made fun of my big forehead.
It also means I wear caps a lot, to try to hide my hairline but I’d say I’m immune to jokes about hairlines.
A. Murtala, 28
When I first noticed my hairline was receding two years ago, I felt like life was being unfair to me. Then I realized that there was nothing I could do about it. I used to try and make jokes about it but deep down, people’s jokes used to pain me.
You see so many people with a full head of hair and they truly don’t know what they have, meanwhile, you’re here, chilling with your desert encroachment which no amount of water can heal. I’m constantly wearing caps and have opted to go on a low-cut because there’s simply not enough hair for any other hairstyle LOL. Very soon, I’m making the transition to skin cut for life. Thank God small beard dey.
Malik, 26
Considering how much hair I used to have from secondary school to uni, I was quite shocked when my hairline started to reverse. It started in 2019 but became fully disturbing in 2020. It gives me serious anxiety because people used to compliment my hair a lot.
Now I just keep my hair low, to avoid embarrassing myself. When my hair grows, it becomes quite obvious so I have to wear a cap everywhere. I get a feeling that when I go out, I and my hairline are the centre of attention so I try to avoid showing it out. Funny enough, my partner prefers I keep my hair. She loves it because it’s curly, so I’m of two minds.
Kayode, 24
My hairline first started sliding back about ten years ago, while I was in secondary school. At first, it was just the corners at first, then the entire frontline started following suit. At first, I wasn’t bothered about it because I thought it was normal until a lot of my peers started calling my attention to it, making me feel like I was abnormal.
Talks about going bald have a way of dampening your mood, especially as a young man. Eventually, I got used to the jokes and it was made easier by the fact that I had a few strands of grey hair, so I just rolled with the old man jokes.
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