Feeling Old and Ugly? Look Again!
I'm setting politeness aside for the moment, will return to it this weekend.
This morning I read an article regarding age and female beauty at Alternet, which can be found here...
...And found myself writing a response to the article, which, I will post here as well. Two blogs in one!!! But go read the article first. Especially if you are over 30, an age that is in this day and age perceived as the beginning of middle age, and the beginning of a slow, depressing march to death.
:-) Hah!! Not so much. Don't know about you, but I'm in my forties and alive and kickin'! On to my commentary!
On "Beauty"
Each age has its own aesthetic of beauty. But never have we lived in a society where we are BOMBARDED by images of what is supposedly beautiful. At the heart of that profit drive and ads aimed at seducing consumerist hearts and wallets.
I don't watch TV any more because of all the ads telling me how wonderful life could be if only I had this car or that refrigerator, or this clothing, or, or, or...
However you can't escape it! Think back to the last time you went grocery shopping. What was in the checkout lane? Those darn women's (and now men's) magazines telling us how to look, how to have the best orgasms, etc.
Before checkout, we're bombarded by food and other choices: Shall I go lo-carb this week, shall I go-fat or, hmm, how about both? One frozen dinner offers the comfort of Mom's home cooking, another caters to the trendy diet du jour. What's the fashionable veggie this week? Babypotatoes? Babycarrots? Oh yes, babycabbage. No, wait a sec, those are BrusselsSprouts for heaven's sake! Ooh, check out that hot pair of nylons!
Speaking of hot, at home there's that sexy car in your neighbor's driveway. Wait a sec. When the HELL did a CAR become a SEX OBJECT? What sort of strange metal/plastic fetish is this?
And, yes, I confess: I myself anthropomorphize my car. She's a good ol' girl, just five years short of being of legal drinking age in my state and has a lot of rust spots and dull finish. Yep, she looks like a bucket 'o bolts, but gets me from point A to point B. Best of all, she's paid for and still gets decent gas mileage for a car of her vintage.
There's probably more than a couple of solutions to all this MADison Avenue advertising bombardment, but here's a couple. I could become an absolute hermit and "get off the grid" by disconnecting from the internet so I am not bombarded by those ads.
Or I can be continually vigilant to the bombardment and put the images through my own acid test of "Is it something I really need to spend my hard-earned cash on or is it merely a seductive one-night stand of consumer libido?"And the final questions "Does this REALLY matter?" and "Why does it matter?"
Oh, heavens yes, I am continually hopping on the consumer bandwagon and spending where I don't necessarily NEED to. But every day my perceptions come closer to really seeing what IS necessary and what is superfluous.
This morning I read an article regarding age and female beauty at Alternet, which can be found here...
...And found myself writing a response to the article, which, I will post here as well. Two blogs in one!!! But go read the article first. Especially if you are over 30, an age that is in this day and age perceived as the beginning of middle age, and the beginning of a slow, depressing march to death.
:-) Hah!! Not so much. Don't know about you, but I'm in my forties and alive and kickin'! On to my commentary!
On "Beauty"
Each age has its own aesthetic of beauty. But never have we lived in a society where we are BOMBARDED by images of what is supposedly beautiful. At the heart of that profit drive and ads aimed at seducing consumerist hearts and wallets.
I don't watch TV any more because of all the ads telling me how wonderful life could be if only I had this car or that refrigerator, or this clothing, or, or, or...
However you can't escape it! Think back to the last time you went grocery shopping. What was in the checkout lane? Those darn women's (and now men's) magazines telling us how to look, how to have the best orgasms, etc.
Before checkout, we're bombarded by food and other choices: Shall I go lo-carb this week, shall I go-fat or, hmm, how about both? One frozen dinner offers the comfort of Mom's home cooking, another caters to the trendy diet du jour. What's the fashionable veggie this week? Babypotatoes? Babycarrots? Oh yes, babycabbage. No, wait a sec, those are BrusselsSprouts for heaven's sake! Ooh, check out that hot pair of nylons!
Speaking of hot, at home there's that sexy car in your neighbor's driveway. Wait a sec. When the HELL did a CAR become a SEX OBJECT? What sort of strange metal/plastic fetish is this?
And, yes, I confess: I myself anthropomorphize my car. She's a good ol' girl, just five years short of being of legal drinking age in my state and has a lot of rust spots and dull finish. Yep, she looks like a bucket 'o bolts, but gets me from point A to point B. Best of all, she's paid for and still gets decent gas mileage for a car of her vintage.
There's probably more than a couple of solutions to all this MADison Avenue advertising bombardment, but here's a couple. I could become an absolute hermit and "get off the grid" by disconnecting from the internet so I am not bombarded by those ads.
Or I can be continually vigilant to the bombardment and put the images through my own acid test of "Is it something I really need to spend my hard-earned cash on or is it merely a seductive one-night stand of consumer libido?"And the final questions "Does this REALLY matter?" and "Why does it matter?"
Oh, heavens yes, I am continually hopping on the consumer bandwagon and spending where I don't necessarily NEED to. But every day my perceptions come closer to really seeing what IS necessary and what is superfluous.
posted by Dace | 1:19 PM
|
0 comments
