The Beauty of Age in the Age of Beauty
Image Courtesy: Montecristo
In light of the reboot of “Sex and the City,” I was presented with the fact that the women in this drama and “Golden Girls” are the same age as their characters. This was shocking to me because it’s not like aging has somehow slowed down over generations. Are there differences just because of changes in beauty over time? Or is there something more to it?
Image Courtesy: Biography.com
“The Golden Girls” have hair that looks like hair someone older than in their fifties would have despite that being their age, while the “Sex and the City” characters have hair that is reminiscent of mature aged women (or younger, thanks to highlights and extensions). “The Golden Girls” characters have wrinkles where some of the “Sex and the City” characters might have had filler or botox. Point is, characters in “The Golden Girls” appear generally older than their age, while the characters in “Sex and the City” more accurately show what someone in their fifties looks like, or arguably younger. With an active use of touch-ups to conceal signs of age like grey hair or wrinkles, it seems “Sex and the City” is attempting to portray mid-lifers but on the hip side.
Image Courtesy: Newsweek
But can this all be due to a change in trends? That might be part of it, but some women currently dress like “The Golden Girls.” It is equally important to note the change in gender roles from the time “The Golden Girls” aired to today. At that time, women had more rigid expectations of what their lives should amount to: children and husbands. Therefore, when they aged and met these expectations, they became elderly and unimportant, even if they weren’t. However, now that gender roles have been challenged, women can embrace middle agedness because it’s more acceptable to have a dimensional life as a woman.
Even so, it seems like the women in “Sex and the City” are trying to look younger. As stated earlier, there is more of an effort to cover natural signs of aging that “The Golden Girls” weren’t expected to. Being middle-aged doesn’t seem to be fully embraced, and there is still a push to look younger. It seems like the mindset that a woman’s life is over as soon as she reaches a specific age is still an underlying factor, even when our society has become more accepting of women having “unconventional” lives. There is still a push to look younger because of this idea that young women are more worthy of attention. Society has placed a certain value on age, and it seems like the midlife is continually associated with being old. It appears, then, that aging is never truly accepted for what it is, and women are constantly having to morph into what is expected of them. (Why did wrinkles become such a scary sight? It shows that you’ve laughed and experienced the range of human emotions throughout your life so far. And that’s valuable.)
Either way, women are going to age; therefore, why is it something society constantly tries to slow down or erase? It’s not for longevity nor hoping for a longer life because plastic surgery or retinoid creams can’t promise that. It’s simply for the look of being younger. In contrast, men aren’t expected to remain young looking in the same way. They age without criticism and are often portrayed as wiser and more powerful with their age. Women do not gain that same power in their aging. During this current time where a youthful look is rewarded, it’s valuable to see age and truly accept it as a part of life.
Image Courtesy: Julia Von Boehm
With age comes knowledge and experience; that should be cherished and embraced for its uniqueness. Of course, the enthusiasm of being and looking young is enticing, but growing older offers new excitements that should be equally rewarded. While our beauty standard now is young and full of life, I think it would be more refreshing to see women age just as they biologically do, without any interruption from society’s expectations. And just because society may value younger looking women, doesn’t mean there isn’t value in growing older and proudly showing it.
Strike out,
Writer: Sara Micale
Editor: Shelby Wingate
Athens