South Korea's President Identifies a New Enemy: Baldness (msn.com) 32
South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung asked at a televised policy meeting last month whether the country's state-run healthcare plan could cover hair-loss treatment, framing it as a question about whether hair loss qualifies as a disease. The health minister told Lee that baldness is generally considered an aesthetic problem and therefore covered out-of-pocket, but the 61-year-old president -- who himself has a full head of hair -- pushed back, arguing that young people experiencing thinning hair view their situation as a "matter of survival."
The proposal has divided the country. South Korea is known for a cultural phenomenon called "lookism," where physical appearance carries significant weight in professional and social settings. The expression "your appearance is also a credential" is common, and nearly all job applications require a photograph, including those for part-time barista positions.
Lee first made the pledge to cover hair-loss treatment during his unsuccessful 2022 presidential campaign but dropped it when he ran again. He won a snap election in June and has now resurrected the idea as a way to appeal to younger voters who have grown more dissatisfied with him. The Korean Medical Association has called the proposal "questionable" given the health system's stretched finances. The health ministry is currently reviewing whether the treatments are appropriate for coverage. More than three in four South Koreans believe everyone has concerns about hair loss, according to a recent Embrain Trend Monitor poll.
The proposal has divided the country. South Korea is known for a cultural phenomenon called "lookism," where physical appearance carries significant weight in professional and social settings. The expression "your appearance is also a credential" is common, and nearly all job applications require a photograph, including those for part-time barista positions.
Lee first made the pledge to cover hair-loss treatment during his unsuccessful 2022 presidential campaign but dropped it when he ran again. He won a snap election in June and has now resurrected the idea as a way to appeal to younger voters who have grown more dissatisfied with him. The Korean Medical Association has called the proposal "questionable" given the health system's stretched finances. The health ministry is currently reviewing whether the treatments are appropriate for coverage. More than three in four South Koreans believe everyone has concerns about hair loss, according to a recent Embrain Trend Monitor poll.
Idiocracy in action (Score:4, Funny)
As Joe and Rita lay dormant, the years passed and mankind became stupider at a frightening rate.
Some had high hopes that genetic engineering would correct this trend in evolution.
But sadly, the greatest minds and resources were focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections.
For the Longest time, I thought the future was either going to be the Demolition Man Future or the Robocop Future. I'm now convinced that the Idiocracy future is the most likely future of mankind.
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Now add to this "LLMs" and we will forget everything about engineering and the science and physics that took us off the ground in big metal tubes. Forever.
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Trump should do the same thing in the USA. Free bleached yellow toupees so people can look like him.
Don't mess with your hormones (Score:1)
Propecia is a lower dose of the drug they use to neuter sex offenders. It can crush libido and cause erectile disfunction and depression, and the affects are permanent for a lot of people even after they stop taking it.
Yeah, this is slashdot and we're all old and already bald. So tell your kids not to mess with their hormones.
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I'm pretty sure this statement is false and the hormone that causes baldness in men has nothing to do with the reproductive system.
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DHT is an offshoot of testosterone. DHT also plays a role in some of the same sexual functions and physiological processes as testosterone, but it’s actually much stronger. DHT can bind to an androgen receptor longer, increasing the impact of testosterone production throughout your body.
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Brazilians don't even have it, and they famously can fuck just fine.
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I'm pretty sure this statement is false and the hormone that causes baldness in men has nothing to do with the reproductive system.
It (DHT) actually affects fertility in men, though not always.
I thought that was well-known and established.
Maybe you're joking though.
The hormone DHT definitely has a lot to do with the reproductive system and male secondary sexual characteristics.
Eunuchs were known to have great hair and longer life spans.
Some that are intersex, that have XY-chromosomes but look like women instead of men, have DHT-insensitivity.
So, basically, without responding to that hormone, nobody would see any difference between you
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You have that backwards; DHT is a feminizing hormone and the only "sexual" characteristics it controls is body hair growth. Basically it's the hormone that causes your hair on your head to get softer as you get older, and for you to grow more of it on your lower body as you get older. People with "male pattern baldness" have a mutation in the gene that produces it that causes them to produce too much of it. Incidentally, it's gravity sensitive too; bald astronauts have unexpectedly reported slight amounts o
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Beware, I heard the project to port GrapheneOS to the Samsung Galaxy SmartToupee has run into a lot of driver problems.
Balding won't _kill_ you! (Score:2)
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Have you considered scalp tattoos?
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Was at a party one time where some skinhead was showing off his new racist head tat. Someone asked why he got it on his head and he said, "When I have kids I can grow my hair and they'll never see it.
Someone nearby started laughing uproariously and said, "You idiot, both your grandfathers and you father were all bald by the time they were 40!"
Errrm ... wutt? No. Wrong. (Score:2)
But it will definitely keep you from getting laid!
Not really, no. I've been balding since age 21 and was half bald by age 27. I still have some somewhat embarrasing pictures of that era. I started shaving my hair down to 5mm and less at age 29. My string of epic sex and affairs started almost a decade later at age 38 when I was basically bald and already had been for more than 10 years. It carries on until today.
If you're in shape, dress well, keep clean and your home stylish, wear some fitting and fashiona
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I decided to look as ugly as possible, to grow my hair out and have an ugly skullet. Pretty much as a social experiment.
It absolutely is way easier getting laid now than ever.
Though they might confuse you not caring about being ugly, with having confidence.
Also, getting stronger compliments now about looks than ever by strange women, despite that.
And pretty much every guy I've seen that've done that, I see is being chased by women. (I bet most are totally repulsed though.) It sounds like a joke. It is prett
Re: Balding won't _kill_ you! (Score:2)
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But does he? (Score:2)
the 61-year-old president -- who himself has a full head of hair
Or is it like our Trump's "full head of hair"?