Ageism isn't stylish
The other day my daughter and I were talking about emojis. Specifically, the silver haired emojis. *Which ones?* I hear you ask...Well, up until recently there was actually only one (if I’m discounting Father Christmas) and it was the ‘granny’ emoji, with the grey bun. Now, that’s wonderful...if you’re a grey haired granny. If you’re not, and you just happen to have made the choice to not dye your hair...that used to be your lot on the emoji front. Only reasonably recently was silver introduced as an emoji hair colour option. Now, it’s definitely in some ways ‘not that deep’, but actually it is part of a bigger conversation. The only way many people see grey hair is as ‘ageing’, ‘granny grey’, ‘old’, ‘letting yourself go’, ‘unkempt’ and that makes me sad. The only way a lot of younger people will see grey hair, as a result of things they are subconsciously exposed to (eg. the ‘granny’ emoji), is something you have when you’re ‘old’, rather than simply another colour choice. Besides, grannies aren’t just a gingerbread cut-out stereotype, they’re all different! And being called a granny shouldn’t be used as an insult either.
I always say the choices we make regarding our appearances aren’t always about things that make us look younger, ‘anti-ageing’ and ‘fighting’ getting older, but simply celebrating life and being alive. And there is so much more to life than hair. Ageing is a privilege. It’s much better than the alternative. That isn’t to say that there is one way and one way only when it comes to appearance. The point is that there are many, many choices. Letting your natural colour grow out is one of them. To me, liberation, vibrancy, zest and acceptance is stylish. Whether you’re a dye-ditcher or dye-doer, it really doesn’t matter.
Although there has been progress, ageism still runs like a river through society, whether we’re discussing something as seemingly harmless as emojis or something much larger. I want not only my daughter, but women and men to see grey as just another colour choice, grey as a badge of freedom and life and experience and fun and choice and style....and maybe also being a granny, but not only being one.
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Jayne
Founder- White Hot