That number could be $3 million (an estimate at what Demi Moore has spent on cosmetic surgery, tho she doesn't like to talk about it)
Or perhaps that number is ￡6 (what madonna spent to create her own gym) [which leads to another number: 3-6 hours she spends working out every day]
The number might also be the $288 it would take to buy this anti-aging skin care set.
As last resort, $39.99 looks cheap for this anti-aging make-up kit.
Those are the numbers I thought of the other day when I looked through this Fit and Fabulous over 40 gallery.
(OH! the other thing I though about looking at that gallery of beauties: PHOTOSHOP! Hello, here's what Faith Hill has to go through to be RedBook cover ready. Check out more Photoshop horrors.)
These "You-can-still-look-like-you're-20-even-when-you-are-40" spreads that the glossies like to put out make me feel like shit. What's that? They are SUPPOSED to make me feel like shit? So that I will pay them back by buying all the anti-aging shit they sell advertising space for?? (BTW, I love Sarah Haskins and her brilliant dissections of advertising targeting woman.)
Yeah, I'm afraid of aging. I bemoan the wrinkles that are appearing around my eyes and mouth. I DO have a cheap-end stash of anti-aging shit that I pay homage too and one of the reasons I work-out and eat healthy is to try to stay young/cute. I'm not dismissing efforts towards being healthy and taking care of one's self (I ♡ good hygiene) (plus I really dig make-up) (and muscles), I'm merely trying to hack my own insecurities here. Bear with me.
Anyhoo...
What helps me get over feeling shitty about aging: Women (of any age) who accomplish awesome things (other than staying wrinkle free). Like women athletes who kick the behinds of women half their age in sports. Women astronauts (of which there are 4 in space right now!). Women comedians (margaret cho ya'll! She's awesome. And raunchy~ consider yourself warned). Women comic book writers and illustrators. Women artists. Women in math and science and medicine, women in politics, women writers, women chefs, women musicians, etc etc etc (sorry... got tired finding links)
You get the idea. The idea being: there is a lot of cool stuff to dedicate time and energy to besides merely trying to stay young and cute. It's a good thing for me to keep in mind as my numbers go up with every fast-passing year. Oh, do you know Kate over at Eat The Damn Cake? she wrote this awesome piece about the flat tummy police and goals for aging.
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2 comments:
just so you know, turning 40 can actually be pretty terrific. Not every woman I know feels this way, but plenty of them love their 40s way more than their 30s. You get over a lot of things, and you get to a place where you give yourself permission to do what you want.
And the most significant physical aspect of female aging isn't just skin or tummies, it's menopause, which can have far-reaching side effects (including the state of your skin and your tummy).
So both the potentially really good and potentially really bad parts of female aging are things people hardly ever talk about, because no one wants to deal with women's insides--either their psyches or their hormones.
I'm with you. Sometimes it gets really discouraging to see those photoshopped beauties and know we're expected to look young and pretty our entire lives. Even when I was 13 or so I thought I was getting a wrinkle between my eyebrows and tried to sandpaper it off (I ended up with a big scab, and it was very, very gross--I was crazy).
I am not so crazy about being pretty now and I only really care about being pretty when I'm going out, so I carefully disguise my face with makeup for job interviews or a night on the town. It feels good to have more confidence now.
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