Mainstory: Fighting nature: men’s battle against grey hair

Kanuma (not his real name) is 56-years-old. He operates a big hard ware shop in Nyabugogo. He is married and has children. By urban standards, Kanuma is relatively a rich man. His only problem perhaps is that old age is catching up with him. Like any African man, his road to what his friends regard as ‘victory’ over poverty was an uphill struggle. At this age, family members look at him as a left over of the past generation. Sometimes, he sits alone in his sitting room as his children loiter outside, laughing and cracking jokes. He ponders what the future holds. Each time he wakes up, he showers, brushes his hair and heads to the dressing room. Here, he picks up his mirror and checks himself. His reflection is fantastic but realises his head is turning grey, perhaps at an alarming rate. “Every morning, our father sits in his dressing room and begins colouring his grey hair. He said he was advised by the salon people to treat his hair that way every morning,” Kanuma’s 15-year old son tells Sunday Times. For him, he has no idea why his father treats his hair that way. Perhaps he dyes his hairs to appear smart like other men in the country. It is very common today to meet very old men who want to look young despite being in the last days of their lives!Many people I spoke to say there are many reasons that influence the way old men make out life. Agnès Mukamugurwa is 30-years-old and married. She says some old people want to remain attractive to the opposite sex. “I think they want to be attractive to women because there is a belief that women overlook old men,” Mukamugurwa says. She says her husband used to tell her it was hard to get a job in government when you are old. “Maybe some men cover grey hairs in order to get government jobs,” Mukamugurwa adds. I am told that those in politics do it to look young and more energetic so as to win support. One of the most popular old men to have had their hair dyed is the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. He sports jet black hair even though he is in his eighties. But whatever the reasons behind such moves, different members of society have conflicting opinions as regards this trend. Mustafa Kanamugire says it’s a highly careless move to dye your hair. “This is being coward. It’s like women who bleach their bodies in an effort to appear more attractive,” the 62 year old man says. “I have grey hair but I am not ashamed of it. I thank God; I have lived longer on earth.” He says white hairs can appear as early as childhood. He reveals that the age at which greying begins seems to be based on genetics. He says sometimes, people are born with gray hair because they inherit the trait. “So it’s uncouth for people to use hair dye to disguise the amount of grey in their hair,” Kanamugire adds. For Eric Mugisha, grey hair is a nightmare. “I like clubbing so much and entering the club looking like an old man is not the best,” Mugisha, 32 explains. Mugisha grey hairs started o develop when he turned 15. John Karangwa, 54, says nobody in this world would want to look old with his face full of wrinkles. “Gone are days when aged people were associated with wisdom and society regarded them highly. Nobody extends a hand of compassion to old people,” Karangwa continues. He says that there is a difference between growing old and looking old. “Most people want to grow old but they don’t want to look old.” He says: “If you have a family and the grey hair is all over your head, an element of concern develops amongst your children. They begin to think that may be you are living your last days on earth.” He says looking old is not fashionable. Society starts calling you Mzee and makes fun of you! You become a laughing stock. Colouring grey hair could also be engineered by the fact that most companies advertise that they need young and energetic men for some jobs. If you have grey hair, you don’t qualify for such a job. It becomes wise if you dye your hair to convince your boss that your are young and energetic. “I don’t find any problem in dying my hair. It makes me feel that I am as good as others who have not developed grey hair. A lot of things have changed. So we must cope up with change.” James Murenga, 53 says. “I dye my hair to appease my wife. If my lover is in public she might be teased for living with an aged man. They would tease her around, calling her all sorts. Old men need to style up too,” Murenga narrates. He says many women feel uncomfortable walking with their old partners and introducing them among friends. “I don’t believe in such men who would want to oppose God’s creation,” Amos Rangira says. “I am also gray haired but nothing makes me happy than looking like this. If you grow old then you have to accept it and look at it as a blessing from God because not all people get a chance of reaching this age. I don’t believe in such men who would want to oppose God’s plan. “They are misguided. Society is not foolish and people can tell who is old not necessarily basing on the grey hair,” Rangira says. “Therefore to those who dye hair for reasons that are immoral, their plight is shading off and they need to come back to God and bless his creation,” says Rangira. Former South African president Nelson Mandela is highly respected despite his advanced age and grey hair. “Basically it depends on what you have contributed to society and how you conduct yourself in society,” Rangira explains. At Queens’ Salon in Kigali, I find a woman. She laughs politely when I pose a question of men who dye their hair. She explains that like any other body application such as body lotion, face powder and perfumes that men apply on their body to look fresh; hair dying is also done to supplement the freshness on the body. At this saloon, there is also a financial element. “We are happy for such a development. It has increased our income because these people pay us well compared to other people,” says the woman who declines to be named. She says gray hair is for those people who live in the rural areas and are stuck with financial constraints. “People in the city need to look young and fresh to fit the city life style. Even if it were me with gray hair, I would dye it,” she says. At times, gray haired people are discriminated and their age mates are few so they always find problems of loneliness and it’s a bit hard for them to live a happy life. In 2008, the World Health Organisation said that there is evidence that hair dyes can increase the risk of bladder cancer for male hairdressers and barbers. This is because they are working with these chemicals all the time. A change in hair color typically occurs naturally as people age, usually turning their hair to grey and then white. But even people in her late twenties can have grey hair. Grey hair is the absence of pigment in the hair and is primarily a genetic function and is a common development in the aging process. It can however, be the result of prolonged illness or stress and worry. In that sense, if you let a few gray hairs become an obsession you will likely see the number of them increase. Ends