May we turn gray? Why do women decide not to dye their hair

Alice Smahina

More than a hundred years have passed since women began to loudly declare their disapproval of being only a convenient and silent addition to the male world. During this time, several waves of feminism occurred, and women gained rights and freedoms that suffragettes never dreamed of. The right to vote in elections, to conceive and give birth at will, to work in various positions, to wear trousers, short skirts, bikinis and men's hairstyles. Many may think that feminism has got everything it wants, and we have long lived in a world of equality and women are allowed to do whatever they want. But no, miracles haven't yet happened, gender inequality hasn't gone anywhere, and society is still not ready to allow women to be free from the condemnation of others and look like they were created by Mother Nature. Gray hair and its social (non)perception is one of the manifestations of such inequality.

The mass media is literally obsessed with women's appearance. For many years, women have been attacked by "beauty ideals" and advertising of various products that allow them to get a little closer to them: from face creams and diet pills to a radical improvement in appearance through plastic surgery.

Becoming perfect means not just having a stereotyped look. The image of eternal youth is cultivated in society. Attractive, young appearance becomes synonymous with success, and signs of maturity, such as wrinkles and gray hair, are usually hidden and "treated."

Not surprisingly, women feel the desire to get rid of such pressure from society. But in fact to abandon the accepted standard of beauty in society isn't so simple. Imperfect body contours or uncolored hair may well suit their mistress, but invariably become the subject of close attention of others. And if not every woman is sent to go under a knife for the sake of an eternally young appearance, then the majority hears: "Can you at least dye gray hair?"