I felt the sting of that prejudice over the weekend as a four-year-old child quizzed me on my marital status.

Child: Are you married?

Me: No.

Child: Why?

Me: Because women don't like me. (We may devote another column to that subject down the road.)

Child: Is it because you're bald?

There's really no comeback for that kind of question and I, as a proud and decent bald man, decided not to delve into the ins and outs of the virility of bald men with a child. Obviously, it's not really appropriate and I don't think the child's parents would have wanted me to say things like grass don't grow on a busy street to a young'un who is only a few years out of infancy.

I sucked it up because bald people are inherently stoic after years of prejudices and obstacles put in our paths.

That a mere child would say such a thing is an indication of the prevalence of hatred that still exists for our kind.

Obviously, the child had to learn this hatred somewhere. Perhaps it was at a family reunion where relatives made fun of cousin Irene for bringing “that man” to the gathering. Perhaps, while watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, someone hurled a bald slur at Patrick Stewart.

Unfortunately, despite all our accomplishments in the fields of sports, music, entertainment and business, there are some folks who just can't stand to see a bald man get ahead.

We are secretly, and sometimes openly, called such vile things as cue ball, egg head and the B-word — baldy — despite how kind we are or how successful we may be.

Most proud bald men have united against this prejudice and we accept who we are. We don't go in for transplants and spending $4,000 to $15,000 for them to blend in and certainly would never embrace the toupee, sham that it is, or the ridiculously obvious comb over. Such gimmicks as growing the back of your hair long and putting it in a ponytail don't jibe well with us as it only accentuates your hair loss and the fact you were never at Woodstock or invented Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Some of us even have problems with guys that shave their heads. I'm OK with that as long as I'm greeted with the secret handshake when our paths cross.

We witness the hatred constantly on early morning infomercials where the intent is to make us feel less manly and think we can't get the girl or swim in a pool when the transplant people are the patsies in this scam.

Larry David, the genius behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, may be one of the greatest bald rights activists to have ever been born. He explored the matter not only on Seinfeld, but went to great lengths to expose this discrimination in Curb.

He explains to police that following an unfortunate event, where his house was toilet-papered and anti-bald graffiti was sprayed-painted on his house, that he was the victim of a hate crime, that we bald people are a sect who for years have endured the torment of haired people.

In another episode he was chastised for hiring a bald chef — typical of haired people — only to find out the chef was a toupee wearer, which in our community is an unpardonable sin.

Bald people are tolerant people. We watch as haired people make up for shortcomings in their testosterone by wearing muscle shirts and driving Camaros and Mustangs while we bald people are comfortable to drive Corollas and Subaru Outbacks. If we are the bald owners of convertibles, we use sunscreen — we never wear caps because that's driving under false pretense.

I once hoped this discrimination would end, but as long as parents keep perpetuating this hatred to their children we will never advance and these prejudices will continue forever.

When I look at the accomplishments made by people like Terry Bradshaw, James Taylor, Jason Alexander, Common and Steven Ballmer, tears come to my eyes and when I see my people suffer, tears also come to my eyes because, yes, I'm proudly bald — Lance Martin