insomniac
21-11-07, 05:16 PM
http://style.uk.msn.com/fashionandbeauty/bebeautiful/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6629623
Stop the anti-ageing madness!
We’re surrounded by anti-ageing beauty products, Botox injections and plastic surgery which promises to turn back the clock. And worst of all, according to Andrea Mann, women are buying into it. She fights back – with six reasons to say no to this pressure to look young.
I’m not sure when I finally snapped. It might have been when I received a sample of a beauty product which claimed to ‘fight the signs of ageing’. It might have been when an email from a spa screamed ‘Turn back the clock!’ at me in its opening line. (If only I had turned back the clock, and never opened it). Or it might have been when a beautiful 24-year-old colleague of mine said she’d consider ‘having work done’.
Whenever it happened, I know this much: the current pressure on women to look young – and the blind acceptance of this by celebrities and others – makes me furious. It’s mad, bad and just plain wrong. And here in a nutshell, a nice wrinkly nutshell (possibly a walnut?), are six reasons why you just shouldn’t buy into it, ladies…
1: It’s futile
I hate to break it to you: but we’re all going to age anyway. And herein lies the most ridiculous element of this anti-ageing pressure. Unlike the pursuit of a trim body/glossy hair/white teeth, there’s nothing you can do about getting older. We’re all maturing, developing, becoming older and wiser, and there’s no way of avoiding it. It’s inevitable. Sorry, folks. Now, get on with your one life and make the most of it.
2. It’s skin deep
Who cares if you have a few lines when you’re the kindest friend in the world? Who cares if you have wrinkle-free skin when you have nothing of interest to say? Well, possibly the producers of Big Brother, but... Here’s a novel suggestion: don’t worry about how young you look. Concentrate on how well-informed/talented/bright/interesting/kind/hard-working you are. Because those things are possibly slightly more important.
3. It’s a fad that’s being imposed on you
Don’t kid yourself that buying these products or undergoing this treatment is your choice, or ‘empowering’. The beauty and entertainment industries are spending a fortune to make you think this way, and if you lived on a desert island, you wouldn’t face any of this pressure (unless Procter & Gamble got into sky-writing). Back in the day, we used to laugh at those crazy Americans with their penchants for boob jobs and facelifts. British people ate Vienettas and watched Hi-De-Hi!, and none of us injected poison into our faces. Things can be that way again. Except for the Hi-De-Hi! bit.
4. Youth doesn’t equal beauty
When people say that ‘Madonna looks amazing for 49’ what they really mean is: ‘Madonna doesn’t look like she’s 49’. Because heaven forbid anyone should actually look their age (or be over 40). The anti-ageing lobby wants us to believe that looking young is the holy grail of beauty, that youthful equals beautiful. But old is beautiful, too - it’s only Western society which is telling us that isn’t the case. There’s nothing inherently ugly about lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet or smile lines. Honestly. Not even when they’re Michael Douglas’s.
5. You’re beautiful just the way you are…
…as Christine Aguilera sang. Or was it Billy Joel? Anyway, women of Britain (and the world – this is the internet, after all!), repeat after me: ‘I am fine just the way I am’. Don’t let the advertisers, movie-makers, magazine editors or beauty product manufacturers tell you otherwise. Because that’s exactly what they’re trying to do. To sell products. To make money. See, it’s simple, really, isn’t it?
6. …and guess what - you’re going to be beautiful when you’re 30/40/50/60/70/80
When I told my 70-year-old mother that I was writing this article, she said, ‘Well, it’s easy for you, because you don’t have wrinkles.’ But the point is: my mother is beautiful, wrinkles and all (and I’d add that at the age of 70, she’d look rather scary without them). As I told that 24-year-old colleague of mine: not only are you perfect, but you’ll be perfect when you’re 60. You don’t have to change a thing.
I’ve been told that I apparently ‘look good for 36’ (just like Madonna 13 years ago). But do I have lines around my eyes? Yes. Do I wish my boobs were perkier? Yes. Would I prefer it if plastic bag handles didn’t leave indelible marks around my wrists for hours? Yes. But do these things make me ugly, or really matter? No.
So the next time your friend, sister, girlfriend, wife, mother or daughter tells you that she’s considering Botox/plastic surgery/buying a product to ‘visibly reduce her lines’ – don’t tell her that it’s her choice if it makes her feel better, blah blah blah. Tell her she’s perfect just the way she is. And what’s more: that she’ll only get more beautiful as she gets older. Because it’s true. And if you tell her enough times, she might just start to believe it.
Stop the anti-ageing madness!
We’re surrounded by anti-ageing beauty products, Botox injections and plastic surgery which promises to turn back the clock. And worst of all, according to Andrea Mann, women are buying into it. She fights back – with six reasons to say no to this pressure to look young.
I’m not sure when I finally snapped. It might have been when I received a sample of a beauty product which claimed to ‘fight the signs of ageing’. It might have been when an email from a spa screamed ‘Turn back the clock!’ at me in its opening line. (If only I had turned back the clock, and never opened it). Or it might have been when a beautiful 24-year-old colleague of mine said she’d consider ‘having work done’.
Whenever it happened, I know this much: the current pressure on women to look young – and the blind acceptance of this by celebrities and others – makes me furious. It’s mad, bad and just plain wrong. And here in a nutshell, a nice wrinkly nutshell (possibly a walnut?), are six reasons why you just shouldn’t buy into it, ladies…
1: It’s futile
I hate to break it to you: but we’re all going to age anyway. And herein lies the most ridiculous element of this anti-ageing pressure. Unlike the pursuit of a trim body/glossy hair/white teeth, there’s nothing you can do about getting older. We’re all maturing, developing, becoming older and wiser, and there’s no way of avoiding it. It’s inevitable. Sorry, folks. Now, get on with your one life and make the most of it.
2. It’s skin deep
Who cares if you have a few lines when you’re the kindest friend in the world? Who cares if you have wrinkle-free skin when you have nothing of interest to say? Well, possibly the producers of Big Brother, but... Here’s a novel suggestion: don’t worry about how young you look. Concentrate on how well-informed/talented/bright/interesting/kind/hard-working you are. Because those things are possibly slightly more important.
3. It’s a fad that’s being imposed on you
Don’t kid yourself that buying these products or undergoing this treatment is your choice, or ‘empowering’. The beauty and entertainment industries are spending a fortune to make you think this way, and if you lived on a desert island, you wouldn’t face any of this pressure (unless Procter & Gamble got into sky-writing). Back in the day, we used to laugh at those crazy Americans with their penchants for boob jobs and facelifts. British people ate Vienettas and watched Hi-De-Hi!, and none of us injected poison into our faces. Things can be that way again. Except for the Hi-De-Hi! bit.
4. Youth doesn’t equal beauty
When people say that ‘Madonna looks amazing for 49’ what they really mean is: ‘Madonna doesn’t look like she’s 49’. Because heaven forbid anyone should actually look their age (or be over 40). The anti-ageing lobby wants us to believe that looking young is the holy grail of beauty, that youthful equals beautiful. But old is beautiful, too - it’s only Western society which is telling us that isn’t the case. There’s nothing inherently ugly about lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet or smile lines. Honestly. Not even when they’re Michael Douglas’s.
5. You’re beautiful just the way you are…
…as Christine Aguilera sang. Or was it Billy Joel? Anyway, women of Britain (and the world – this is the internet, after all!), repeat after me: ‘I am fine just the way I am’. Don’t let the advertisers, movie-makers, magazine editors or beauty product manufacturers tell you otherwise. Because that’s exactly what they’re trying to do. To sell products. To make money. See, it’s simple, really, isn’t it?
6. …and guess what - you’re going to be beautiful when you’re 30/40/50/60/70/80
When I told my 70-year-old mother that I was writing this article, she said, ‘Well, it’s easy for you, because you don’t have wrinkles.’ But the point is: my mother is beautiful, wrinkles and all (and I’d add that at the age of 70, she’d look rather scary without them). As I told that 24-year-old colleague of mine: not only are you perfect, but you’ll be perfect when you’re 60. You don’t have to change a thing.
I’ve been told that I apparently ‘look good for 36’ (just like Madonna 13 years ago). But do I have lines around my eyes? Yes. Do I wish my boobs were perkier? Yes. Would I prefer it if plastic bag handles didn’t leave indelible marks around my wrists for hours? Yes. But do these things make me ugly, or really matter? No.
So the next time your friend, sister, girlfriend, wife, mother or daughter tells you that she’s considering Botox/plastic surgery/buying a product to ‘visibly reduce her lines’ – don’t tell her that it’s her choice if it makes her feel better, blah blah blah. Tell her she’s perfect just the way she is. And what’s more: that she’ll only get more beautiful as she gets older. Because it’s true. And if you tell her enough times, she might just start to believe it.