Call for Submissions: Going Gray Zine

Recently I found a white hair on my head, the first ever, and I pretty nearly panicked, because no one has EVER talked to me about the milestones of going gray, and I’m 27! I didn’t know what was “normal” or what/when to expect. I posted about the experience on Facebook, Discord and Twitter, asking for support, because the shock had made me feel physically ill. It turns out that a lot of people want to talk about this, and almost no one talks about it! And I learned for the first time that getting your first gray hairs in your 20s is in fact normal. So it occurred to me that I think many more people will benefit if I were to compile people’s stories about going gray in a zine, to encourage people to talk about this and to let younger people getting their first gray hairs know they’re not alone.

Most of my friends talking about this are women or nonbinary, but this zine will be open to all genders and all ages to share stories about both naturally graying hair and about medical conditions that cause hair to change color outside of the “normal” aging process. It’s a space to process our feelings about aging, where talking about this usually unspoken topic isn’t taboo. If I end up getting a lot of stories and can’t fit them all, priority will go to stories by women and nonbinary people due to the stigma against non-men going gray and the pressure we face to hide gray hairs. I’m hoping to get stories from people from lots of cultural backgrounds as well, as I’m sure different cultures treat graying hair differently.

If you’d like to submit a story, email me at metaparadox11@gmail.com with the phrase “Going Gray Submission” in the subject. Contributors will receive a free pdf of the zine and can redistribute it or print it however they wish. I will be selling physical copies of the completed zine.

Tentative Deadline: August 3, 2019 (may be extended if I don’t get enough stories)