I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs

It was only in my late 30s that I realised that most of the women around me dye their hair. I began to scrutinize my own hair and found many gray hairs amongst my dark brown ones. I started to wonder why women’s gray hair is so invisible. I wrote Gray hairs and realised that to choose not to dye is...

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Main Author: Terhi Marttila
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra 2025-04-01
Series:MatLit
Subjects:
Online Access:https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/matlit/article/view/15989
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author Terhi Marttila
author_facet Terhi Marttila
author_sort Terhi Marttila
collection DOAJ
description It was only in my late 30s that I realised that most of the women around me dye their hair. I began to scrutinize my own hair and found many gray hairs amongst my dark brown ones. I started to wonder why women’s gray hair is so invisible. I wrote Gray hairs and realised that to choose not to dye is an act of resistance to both age and gender-based oppression and discrimination. This article is a practitioner reflection on Gray hairs. I begin by contextualizing the work, and then I reflect on some of the comments that people made when I shared Gray hairs with them. Finally, I look at how the visual, process-based elements and interaction through clicking (as plucking) of gray hairs complement the written elements.
format Article
id doaj-art-3dacde9823d74e6890154cc5a277ea0d
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issn 2182-8830
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra
record_format Article
series MatLit
spelling doaj-art-3dacde9823d74e6890154cc5a277ea0d2025-08-20T02:20:22ZengImprensa da Universidade de CoimbraMatLit2182-88302025-04-0111110.14195/2182-8830_11-1_4I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs Terhi Marttila0Universidade do Porto It was only in my late 30s that I realised that most of the women around me dye their hair. I began to scrutinize my own hair and found many gray hairs amongst my dark brown ones. I started to wonder why women’s gray hair is so invisible. I wrote Gray hairs and realised that to choose not to dye is an act of resistance to both age and gender-based oppression and discrimination. This article is a practitioner reflection on Gray hairs. I begin by contextualizing the work, and then I reflect on some of the comments that people made when I shared Gray hairs with them. Finally, I look at how the visual, process-based elements and interaction through clicking (as plucking) of gray hairs complement the written elements. https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/matlit/article/view/15989feminist ageinggray hairsdigital writing artpractice-based research
spellingShingle Terhi Marttila
I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs
MatLit
feminist ageing
gray hairs
digital writing art
practice-based research
title I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs
title_full I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs
title_fullStr I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs
title_full_unstemmed I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs
title_short I pluck — contemplating dyeing and ageing through Gray hairs
title_sort i pluck contemplating dyeing and ageing through gray hairs
topic feminist ageing
gray hairs
digital writing art
practice-based research
url https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/matlit/article/view/15989
work_keys_str_mv AT terhimarttila ipluckcontemplatingdyeingandageingthroughgrayhairs