Why Are Women Obsessed With Slow Aging?
Losing your worth at the same rate as the rise of the anti-aging industry.
…but suddenly the curtains drop, and the lights dimmer. There is a slight confusion and heavy anticipation coming from the audience in the form of quickly-paced chatter. It’s over for her, but not for them. As if nothing happened, reflecting time travel, the youth on the podium has been resurrected. The importance is put upon the new, young thing, the ingénue…
— a work of fiction from the author
Wrinkles, smile lines, sagging skin, time at its work, and tons of memories reflecting upon a well-ripened and wise human face.
Her skin is a canvas, perhaps a Polaroid collection, an artistic exhibition of a long life lived thoroughly and deeply.
Such a poetic and romantic perspective should awaken tears of joy in the corner of one’s eye, a hidden sense of nostalgia, or a sudden upward turn of the corners of the mouth.
Except…it does not.
Being “over the hill” is not a new phenomenon. Specifically in women, it describes the loss of her value, decrease in appearance, performance, and overall sexual desire of men.
There is an unspoken age limit to the extent a woman is able to be valued as a person. Once the clock runs out, she just has to deal with the consequences of living in a society.
She has been put in a cage for the heinous crime of growing old.
Aging holds an enormous amount of power, therefore it is used as a weapon forcefully pressed against the skin of her neck.
It is the fear-installed narrative twaddling about the importance of avoiding conformity to her real age, assuming every woman needs and wants to age gracefully, delicately, and invisibly.
…She has to be a doll. Never changing, always beautiful. Entertaining. Docile…
Surely you've noticed the acceleration in the production of anti-aging content on the internet.
To this day there are routines built upon the sole purpose to avoid the harsh reality of womanhood — the decay.
…It’s an accomplishment not to look as if you are a woman with years under her belt. If only you were able to remain the same for all the time you’re profitable…
As always, societal pressure turned this situation into a big bad monster that can only be tamed with the help of the infamous, experienced, and money-hungry marketing.
It starts as a simple promotion of the use of sunscreen and ends with pseudo-scientific practices resembling ancient witchery.
…The blood-thirsty creature seeks to disassemble and resew the faces of its victims, pulling the skin tighter and higher. For novices, it promises long-lasting results for youth by filling up the tissues of the face with a toxin…
In some young women, just the realization of time and its impact on appearance and skin texture seems to be revolting enough to let everyone know about it.
As the chain reaction starts forming, we see girls adapting habits resembling the absurdity of historical noblewomen.
Sure, we may not be bloodletting, or using gladiator sweat as a face cream, but do we really need a daily 25-step skincare routine and thousand-dollar facials just to avoid looking our age?
It is so easy to see right through the scheme as this is an occurrence happening all the time: problem → promotion→ profit. Why do we keep dancing to the sound of someone else’s music even if it keeps breaking our legs?
Perhaps the feeling of isolation when you separate yourself from the vast majority, or the slow brain-washing by global commercials and bizarre ideals.
We can try to escape the “problem” but the reality stays. Aging is always going to happen and all the time we may spend trying to prevent it is causing our quality of life to decrease prominently.
Recently there has been a rise in filters portraying a person’s potential look in their senior years. Some women take it kindly, whereas others aren't so satisfied.
So if aging is a natural concept why do so many women feel repelled by the mere look at an AI-generated image of their possible older selves?
This is because of the look physical maturing has been given. We are all so desperately tied to our appearance that it makes us think that visible progress is inherently bad.
Women are so terrified of aging that it haunts their minds like a demon, causing them to enter the vicious cycle of obsession and self-hatred. All that to fit an absurd beauty standard.
Youth is actively profitable, we see it everywhere. The barely legal girl getting introduced to Hollywood is the current trend. So by that logic, why shouldn't we be trying to look like her, the fresh, inexperienced, and naive thing?
The industry is enslaving vulnerable and insecure people, feeding them nothing but lies and promised gratification. It is a network connection, a parasite-like system spreading fast to infect others in order to…sell their product.
Having your worth tied to your appearance must be a jarring experience, especially when everyone around praises you for it. However, life is more fruitful than what can be seen.
All the laughs and cries, smiles and frowns are encrypted into the messenger — you.
Aging and growing old is an incredible privilege and if we didn't use sight as a sense, people would be much more interested in your soul than in the fine lines you get at 20 (and bodies would be less profitable).
Imagine how much more enjoyable aging would be if we didn’t have to worry about our looks in order to please people.
Whether or not a woman loses her value as she ages is limited purely to an individual’s perspective. It is those close to us, our community, that matter.
And personally, I would not scrap any one of my family members or friends just because they're old.
I have heard the wisest of words and the most surprising of perspectives from those who have lived longer than I have.
I am thrilled to continue my life and keep learning through my mistakes even if it means having ridges across my forehead.
There is no secret fountain of youth, no magical elixir, either. Rather than avoiding or trying to postpone aging, we all should be celebrating it. For that is what brings us peace.
