The day I posted Let Me Live It As a Gray, I became aware of other columns on the same subject.
Ann Brenoff
In this one, HuffPo blogger Ann Brenoff says she would fear for her job if she let herself go gray.
Helen Mirren, stellar gray
In this one, Anna Murphy chalks up her frustration with so many years of dyeing – she calls it “a vague crossness about the fandango.” I love that.
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Robin Korth
And in this one, Robin Korth speaks more eloquently than I ever could about the subject. (Thanks to faithful readers Sue Shoemaker and Ann Marquette for this link.)
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As I read them, I’m struck again by the idea that we’re “brave” or “crazy” to go gray, because this is what we’re risking:
PEOPLE WILL THINK YOU ARE OLD.
And then, look out, because we will be treated horribly. What does that say about us as Americans? PS Here is Kim Kardashian with her recent dye job. Do you think she is trying to look older? Hee hee! But seriously, there isn’t that much difference between gray and blond, yet we attach so much cultural significance to that small degree of difference.
Related articles across the web
Another article supporting the choice to BE gray…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/household-names-after-going-gray_n_6841756.html?utm_hp_ref=fifty&ir=Fifty
I have a wonderful white streak in the front and slowly growing gray/white around the rest. My mother and grandfather were a beautiful shade of white. I’m not sure if I’ll be totally white but either way, I’m happy with what I’ve got.
Thanks Barbara, I am excited as well to find out what mine looks like!
Unfortunately in our society, a label like “old” gets you shut out of a lot, especially in the job market. But being ashamed of it isn’t likely to change that type of attitude either!
Nancy
I KNOW!!! “Old” is 100% synonymous with bad, negative, abhorrent.
Some people gray better than others. If my hair came out a pretty silver color, no way would I change it (unless it cork-screwed. that’s just impossible-been there-done that). I have a neighbor that had the most gorgeous gray hair and she dyed it another color to look younger. I don’t think I hid the shocked look on my face when I saw what she’d done.
I am absolutely convinced that letting myself go natural is the path to true happiness! For me anyway, although it is definitely on a case-by-case basis. I will keep you posted.
Hooray for the GRAY 🙂