Why Color?
Why is this such a tough topic for women?
When I was a little girl, if my parents told me that when I grew up, I would:
Me in kindergarten
Feel the pressure to color my hair as it becomes gray
Wear makeup, otherwise, I’d feel like I have fewer opportunities than men
Pay for all the makeup and hair color, spend time shopping for it, and applying it (even though women on average don’t make as much money as men)
I’d have thought, “No way. Not me!” Well, here we are and the manufactured expectations and repercussions are rampant.
Hear these words:
Both women and men are each enough without coloring our gray.
We are each born enough.
We are each born without internal and societal stigma.
How dare society demand that women chase our younger selves instead of celebrating physical maturity and earned wisdom. It’s beyond time to disrupt the “you/I are not enough” way of thinking and instead respect and celebrate those who go gray.
Agewashing
“Hair like this. Dull. Streaked with gray. Even with this perfect make-up she looks faded…unattractive.”
Why Do Women Modify Our Appearance?
Modifying one’s appearance is a personal choice, yet women are “encouraged” to modify appearance in exponential ways backed by media, industry, and individuals that support and or profit from these modifications. Modification examples in the U.S. include:
Daily application of facial makeup, manicured nails, straightening one’s hair, hiding grey hair and wrinkles, shaving underarms, legs, and bikini lines, showing more skin when wearing clothing, modifying facial features to be more symmetrical, and so on.
Women are encouraged to increase certain features (eyelash length, fingernail length, breast size, height, lips…) while decreasing other features (pitch of voice, body weight, nose size, ear size…).
In The News
We can disrupt.
Why we gotta color?
Why we gotta try?
Why we gotta cover up what’s real and not a lie?
Don’t I got that aura?
Don’t I got that vibe?
Don’t we get to celebrate every year I’m alive?
- Gray For Good video lyrics