GRAY


United States, 2019-present

“Mommy, your hair is getting gray! Are you going to die?” This was my then 7-year-old daughter’s reaction to my increasingly gray hair at age 35. It was heart-wrenching. I replied, “Yes, eventually, but not because I stopped dyeing my hair. Coloring my hair will not keep me from dying.”


After my daughter pointed out my grays (and my mortality) our exchange became a bigger thought, that death—divorce, aging, leaving a job because of discrimination—can be rebirth for women. Are we now looking at the death of dying our hair to fit traditional beauty standards?

 

After talking with Rosie, I stopped “dying” and started asking, “Why am I the only one with gray?”  Then came the #MeToo movement and more women chose to stop coloring their hair. This was followed by the pandemic that cut off so many from their colorists. Would they dye their hair at home or quit? Simple questions about my own hair became a larger conversation about male gaze, ageism, and how women build their sense of selves—it became GRAY. 

 

Now, there are more stories across different platforms about women redefining beauty and power through the simple act of “going gray.” From Andie McDowell to Paulina Porizkova, Rep. Katherine Clark to Tracee Ellis Ross, women are talking about gray hair and its impact on relevance and hireability. Hundreds of women dedicate their Instagram feeds to going gray. More corporations are embracing models with gray hair. While this is progress, ageism in the office still exists and starts at 40 for women, but 45 for men. In one study, women were almost twice as likely to feel the need to dye their hair to combat ageism at work. This is a zeitgeist moment for this subject.

 

GRAY explores what a woman's personal choices about her hair mean in the context of self, family, friends, co-workers, lovers, and partners. In GRAY, I focus on women at all stages of life, variously accepting or defying the identity imposed by age and hair color. Through collaboration with a diverse range of women, GRAY explores what motivates individuals either to dye their hair or to "let it go."

 

These portraits, and the interviews that accompany them, expanded my understanding of this complicated choice. Like many internal debates, the questions we ask ourselves reflect a wider societal dialogue about our appearance, our worth, and our place in the world. 

This is an ongoing portrait series. If you’re interested in being interviewed and photographed for this project please email: beth.rooney@gmail.com



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