RETURN TO BLONDE

I’m a white head, not due to age but heredity. Many members of my dad’s family had their hair turn white before the age of 40. My auntie dyed her hair for over fifty years until she let it go white. My normally honey-blonde locks began to morph in my mid-twenties. It blended well because my regular hair was a light color. I dyed it a few times but didn’t really like the result. I just let it transform completely white by my mid-thirties.

Decided to color my hair. Not out of vanity but because of the job search. Most people assume that it is just a very light blonde until they look closely. Personally I don’t care. I went through the curl up and dye stage when I was young. I contorted my hair with permanent solutions when I was in grade school since a curly pixie was the fashion. Why do they call it permanent when the treatment only lasts a couple months? It was a horrible process and then I had an allergic reaction. I dyed and shaved my hair during my early 20s. I got too busy during graduate school and lost interest.

I can’t afford to have age to be a factor in hiring. I’m only 40-something and have at least twenty years of full-time work ahead of me. I have very few wrinkles so some people assume that I have had a facelift and retired or else I am 30 years old. It is weird to have such a range of assumptions. During an interview I was asked how long I intend to keep working. The interviewer was clearly older than me and I felt offended. I never hear people questioning the age of men who turn prematurely white like Anderson Cooper, Julian Assange, or Phil Donahue & Steve Martin (30 years ago).

If dyeing my hair will get me a job, then I’ll do it. I hate coloring my hair. My hair is very thin and tends to fall out when it gets colored or permed more than once. It’s a smelly messy process and I dislike the dryness of the scalp afterwards. A good color and cut at a salon can cost close to $100 so I purchased a $10 kit from the drug store.

I carefully read the instructions. Mixed the ingredients and felt ill from the chemical stench. Applied it to my hair and scalp and had to wait. I actually wrote this blog entry while passing time. It was extraordinarily difficult to resist scratching my scalp during the process. It didn’t sting or burn but felt creepy. The result is negligible. I need to procure a darker tone and try again. Ugh!

I despise blonde jokes. There is nothing funny about them. They are pure discrimination against people with a specific hair color. I stop people when they start to share degrading humor focused against anyone. I won’t allow it in my home and all my friends know that fact. I was born with blonde-white hair and my intelligence has nothing to do with hue. Hell, I qualified for MENSA!

Goodbye Grey.
© 2011 Ima B. Musing