So I have seriously grey hair. Hell it’s so grey it’s silver! I started going grey in my teens and never stopped. I was often called “Hi Ho, Silver” or “the Lone Stranger” by my rugby team mates. I began going grey in my teens, and then exponentially in my 20’s when I went completely vegetarian. Apparently a B12 deficiency makes hair turn grey. Who is at highest risk for this deficiency? Well, vegetarians and vegans, since B12 is normally derived from animal sources. So for me to start going grey very early kind of makes sense since I do not eat animals. Richard Gere is a good example of the same kind of whammy which hit me, he being a vegie also.
At one stage I used to put highlights in my hair (when I was dancing at the dance studio) to minimize the sheer greyness of my hair or I would keep it really short. However a few years ago I decided to own it and now wear my hair long and all Gandalfy!
The oddest thing is happening though! The other day a young girl asked me where I had had my hair done. Apparently there are teenagers and twenteens now paying to have their hair coloured like mine. They want to have granny hair! The question is why are they doing it? Well, grey hair has recently gone from dreaded to desired, as celebrities, models, and young women head to salons to be silvered. It is fast becoming the symbol of indifference to beauty standards.
Below: Super hero Storm
Let’s hope it encourages older women to embrace the grey! There is the problematic idea that men look distinguished with grey hair (although this is changing as men are being targeted as consumers too now) while women look old and frumpy and…well, grannified! The stigma around grey hair is gendered and favours the masculine much like most things in our societies do. Women have, in fact, been encouraged to hide their grey hair for as long as youth has been a prized cultural possession. And this started way back when.
Women in ancient Egypt apparently used to cover their grey hair with a dye mixture made of oil and the blood of a black cat, while the Romans relied on a mixture of ashes, boiled walnut shells, and earthworms. So I think the fact that women want to own grey hair is awesome! AND let me tell you it looks stunning! I am sad that women, when reaching a certain age, lop off all their hair and colour it to death. It is their choice of course, as it is their hair, but I wish they would enjoy what nature is giving them for free . The scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis, is one of the older women who are embracing the grey, as is Helen Mirren, and I think it is awesome! Don’t call it grey though, call it silver, hell, I do! Rock those silver selfies, ladies!
Just hash tag grannyhair and take a look for yourself.