[LLV]

Everywhere you turn there are ads, commercials, articles and advice on how to stay younger-looking longer. That's great, as I'm sure we all want to look as young as possible for as long as possible. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But does anyone else find it just a little disturbing that these ads are giving off the message that it's "not okay" to age?

To me it's the same thing as the ultra-thin supermodels, Hollywood images, obesity is a sign of laziness, disgust and poor health, etc etc etc.

Again, I totally agree that it's better for your health to be at a normal weight for your statistics and there's nothing wrong with trying to look younger. But what about those that want to grow old gracefully? It's as though getting older is just not accepted, that once you 'look' past a certain age, you're no longer beautiful.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm soooo tired of societies' ideals of what we should look like.

Any thoughts?

[AquaChick]

Originally Posted by LLV

1.) But does anyone else find it just a little disturbing that these ads are giving off the message that it's "not okay" to age?

2.) To me it's the same thing as the ultra-thin supermodels, Hollywood images, obesity is a sign of laziness, disgust and poor health, etc etc etc.

1.) Yes. It is disturbing. I am only 28 I do try to care for my skin, but wrinkles are a part of life. It is irritating that society desires people to over react to a few crows feet or wrinkles. We spend more of our lives with them thatn without them, so it is just silly.


2.) A lot of those models are not the picture of perfect health. Many snort coke, are anorexic and/or bulimic...or on diet pills... etc... They can say what they will about overweight= lazy, but there is a flipside to the ultra skinny model thing too. Not all models mind you, but not all overweight people are lazy either...

[mocha74]

I'm with you. I'm only 25, but I don't care about getting older. I try and do what's right for my body and if I get some grey hairs and some wrinkles I'm not going to freak out. That's just how your body naturally progresses. Society is wayyyy too into looking younger.

[LLV]

Agree with both of you

[kayleystar]

I see these kinds of things all the time, and it's just ridiculous. Granted, I'm only 19, but I'm not going to freak out about getting older. It's a fact of life, and frankly, some people that try so hard to look younger, actually look a lot WORSE than when they looked perfectly fine, aging.

[NemesisClaws]

I recently read a biography of Dixie Carter, who played Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women in the 80's and 90's. She had such poise and confidence with herself and her looks that it was such a shock to read that she did have one or two facial tightening done during this period. Such is the pressure of Hollywood. But she did write that while she did love it, she also regrets it because it kinda erased the story of her life, the very essence of her character on her face. I thought it was an interesting perspective to share....