A High Price Toupee: The Costs of Baldness in 'Por Los Pelos'

The paper examines the cultural significance of baldness in contemporary screen media, highlighting how it reflects anxieties about masculinity, aging, and power. It argues that baldness is stigmatized as emasculating and unattractive, with media portrayals often framing it as alien and emotionless. Despite the normalization of alopecia and its treatments, these representations medicalize baldness as a disease. The paper also critiques the portrayal of baldness in the Spanish comedy "Very Bald Trip," which, despite critiquing the hair restoration industry, ironically reinforces traditional masculinity by casting full-haired actors as bald men. Ultimately, the paper argues that baldness remains a socially acceptable target for humor, affecting predominantly Caucasian men, and is portrayed as a disorder requiring intervention.