I think I was 8 or 9 when I realized my mom died her hair. I thought it was an awfully gross process. She got into this huge brown- streaked shirt (from years of dyeing) and the whole floor smelled like icky chemicals. So being the precocious young kid that I was I said something snotty like, "I'm never going to do that when I grow up. I don't care if I get gray hair."
Fast-forward to when I turned 18 and saw my first silvering hair strand. My knee-jerk reaction? Pull it out. It was like the words were ingrained in me – "Pull that awful gray hair out." Like my fingers had been programmed from years of being immersed in pop culture to retaliate at the offending hair.
Skip ahead again to now – I'm in my early 20s and am constantly complaining and worrying about my handful of gray hair (I know nothing to complain about). My friends and family all graciously say they can't see it. My mom teases me and says, "You could always go back on your promise and dye your hair you know." But call it principle, call it laziness, call it being a cheapskate, call it wanting to age naturally, I want to resist the urge to dye. But I swear when I'm under the bright neon lights in the bathrooms at work, I feel like the other professionals are staring at the little gray strands and judging me, willing me to follow the dyeing trend.
That's why I'm so relieved to see it's becoming more acceptable for men and women to have gray hair -- though right now it seems like the trend is only "acceptable" in the baby-boom generation. Still, I'm glad that people are taking the time to write about the importance of accepting beauty in a variety of ages and colors.
Skip ahead again to now – I'm in my early 20s and am constantly complaining and worrying about my handful of gray hair (I know nothing to complain about). My friends and family all graciously say they can't see it. My mom teases me and says, "You could always go back on your promise and dye your hair you know." But call it principle, call it laziness, call it being a cheapskate, call it wanting to age naturally, I want to resist the urge to dye. But I swear when I'm under the bright neon lights in the bathrooms at work, I feel like the other professionals are staring at the little gray strands and judging me, willing me to follow the dyeing trend.
That's why I'm so relieved to see it's becoming more acceptable for men and women to have gray hair -- though right now it seems like the trend is only "acceptable" in the baby-boom generation. Still, I'm glad that people are taking the time to write about the importance of accepting beauty in a variety of ages and colors.
1. Informative Article... AWESOME.
Eliseo at 5:18AM on Feb 28th 2008