Does a brother have to explain if he cuts his hair bald?

JH

We all know that having a beard or a goatee is wrong in the JW Organization. How about if a brother just decides to be bald, by choice?

What do the elders say then?

doodle-v

Well, I do know for a fact that when my brother was 17 he shaved his head bald, and the PO said he would lose his priveleges if he didnt grow it back.

Same thing happened when he grew his hair out and got corn rows. They said he shouldnt try to imitate "the world" and was threatened with loss of priveleges again.

-Doodle-V

ithinkisee

Depends on the congregation. I caught holy hell for it.

The other congregation that meets in the same hall as us has no problems with it.

Nice to see Jehovah's direction isn't it?

-ithinkisee

From experience I can say that it's definitely frowned upon. When I did it, they looked at me wierd and gave me those precious hypocritical smiles... I didn't have privileges at the time so they didn't approach me about it.

tetrapod.sapien

if they are in a position of responsibility in a conservative community, then they might have trouble. i did this when i was a MS. shaved my head right to the skin. the elders raked me over the coals. "skinhead" and all that crap...

TS

blondie

In this area it seems to be more acceptable for black brothers to shave their heads than white brothers, but it is not looked upon favorably in general. One brother had cancer and his hair all fell out and they suggested he wear a toupee; like what was he gonna do, glue it on.

Some black brothers call it their summer hairdo to combat the heat.

(There is nothing in the WT publications that I can find that addresses a man shaving his head in this day and time being unacceptable.)

Blondie

daniel-p

If you are not already balding severely, then it would be tantamount to growing a beard, which would get you a good "talking to." In a previous congregation, I buzzed my hair (to about 1/4 inch) and the PO nearly flipped out. I basically got my priveleges taken away for a few months after that. It really depends on how conservative or liberal your hall is... which really depends on how old and crotchety your PO is.

Scully

Considering how many of the Brothers™ end up that way (in varying degrees) naturally, it just seems dumb to put rules on it. What I have heard is that it boils down to being a Slave of the World™ and following the trends of the World™. Same goes for ear piercing, body art and jewellry, etc.

Frog

Like all disciplinary procedures in the borg, there's rarely any consistency. My slightly older dub sister is married to a very spunky dub skinhead, it's his signature now so he pretty much gets away with it. No secret that he's been slow to come to privileges because of it. I'm pretty sure for a long while they assumed an aire of rebellion in him because of it. Really does depend on the extent of the analness of the elders on the board. Hip inner city congregations get away with far more scandal than regional ones...frog x

Sparkplug

I cant see it going over well because bald men can be so ~~sixy...er sexy!~~ It is way too much temptation for the gals in the hall. It may make them do naughty things. Lord knows how much they hate calling the women in and getting all the nitty gritty details. Cant have none of that.