I’ve done fairly
well up until this point. I mean I’m 44 and I’ve never had to dye my hair to
cover up grey. But, well, I can’t help thinking my time is running out! Every
now and again, when I look in the mirror, a stubborn little strand quite
clearly sticking out against its fellow follicles confronts me. Then I look a
bit more and I see it’s bought some friends along, and they are bedding down
for the long-term. They’ll have to go I think…
And yet I’m
really struggling with the idea of having to cover up what is a natural sign of
ageing – and play along with society’s belief that to be attractive you have to
be young. This is partly because this
rule only seems to apply to women. Consider Hollywood hunks like George Clooney
and Robert Downey Jr – both considered to have aged like a fine wine –
ultimately far more attractive now than when they were younger despite greying
locks and wrinkles. Society tends to view the older man as a better option to
his younger counterpart – perhaps imagining that this is a guy with a better
job, more life experience and past the ‘chasing tail’ phase – where we can only
imagine he has learnt how to treat a partner properly and just what makes a
woman tick (that’s a polite way of talking about sexual experience).
While a guy can
become a ‘silver fox’ however, a greying female of the same generation has
suddenly become a ‘granny’ – the sort of character the wolf eats first in fairy
tales. Seemingly a woman with lots of life (or indeed sexual) experience
doesn’t hold the same allure. Take a look at the ‘hair’ section of the
supermarket shelves – there are probably as many packets of hair dye promising
to cover grey as there are styling products. In fact, the anti-aging industry
has been projected to reach US$291.9 billion by 2015, and that’s a lot of
product, most of it being slathered on the faces of females across the world in
a desperate bid to be ‘visible’ in society. And let’s not even mention the
menopause.
So, in the name
of research, I’ve been combing (see what I did there) Pinterest to find
examples of attractive grey-haired men versus attractive greying women. I’m
still not convinced we’re ready to say a female in her forties looks as good
with grey hair as a guy can – but certainly there’s hope for us ladies by the time
we can claim a free bus pass.
What do you
think? Can a woman with grey hair ever really be as attractive as a man? Should
we start a revolution and demand older, wiser women are promoted as pin-ups?
Add your thoughts in the comment box below.
Thanks for
reading
Vanessa. x
Well, if I could look that good with grey hair, I would go for it! Need lustrous quantities of it though, and a good set of cheekbones.
ReplyDeleteObviously they all have make-up on too - particularly red lippy. Not sure I'd want such a dramatic look 24/7!
DeleteThose ladies look fab - but then so does their skin not just their hair. I have to have mine coloured every 7 weeks now and really I should get it done every 4 weeks for it to not show any grey. So, if I could avoid it I would but I'm not prepared to go out on a limb and make a stand. God I feel oppressed! Check out these ladies though - not pin ups but still grabbing attention:
ReplyDeletewww.http://advancedstylefilm.com/
I love it 'There is no time limit to anything, when you look good, you look good'!! Again, some of their looks are a bit extreme but the fact that they haven't just written themselves off after a certain age is great - and they are far from invisible! Thanks for commenting.
DeleteLove your silver vixen picks! I definitely think silver on a woman can be very attractive, but it's the in between bit we all hate, isn't it? Like in between growin your hair out of a cut!
ReplyDeleteSilver vixen? I think we need to start promoting that term! Agreed it's the half this/half that stage - but I'm wondering if that's a metaphor for middle age anyway!
DeleteInteresting that I read your comments the same day that I read an article which said the number of unemployed women between 50 and 65 has risen sharply. Any connections I wonder
ReplyDeleteBee Zee
Worrying! Are older women being written out of society completely?
Delete