Saturday, February 23, 2008

Makeovers

















I received this picture in an email today. If I remember correctly, it came from a reality TV series where they made people over. I sometimes watch the show "Ten Years Younger" where they use all kind of procedures to erase the signs of age. It's kind of depressing to watch because it just makes me feel older. But it has also given me some food for thought. Part of the problem in having these kinds of shows is that it raises our expectations for how the aging should look. It's no longer acceptable for someone to have gray hair or wrinkles, and it is expected that you must have the body of a thirty year old, no matter your age. But all of those things aside, I have some serious reservations about the treatments they use on these shows.
1. TEETH Most of the shows I have seen have done veneers for the people. I have wondered if they really explain to them what the process involves, and how costly it will be for them in the future. They actually have to grind down your own teeth to a sort of cone shape, then put the veneers over the cone tooth. These teeth usually only last for about 15 years, then you might have to have them redone. This can be very costly..thousands of dollars. Do they explain that to these people? In addition, not only do they do veneers, but they whiten the teeth to a nuclear reactive white. Normal teeth aren't meant to be that white, but society is raising our expectations for even how white our teeth should be.

2. HAIR Most of the makeovers involve coloring the hair. I have nothing against that, but I wonder if the people realize how expensive it will be to maintain it. Do they explain these things to them? But putting that aside, what really gets me is the hair extensions. I guess I'm just weird, but it would creep me out to have someone else's hair on my head. They have to actually sew the hair in to the existing hair. But that only lasts a few months, then you have to have it redone. Nothing worse than an overgrown hair weave. It is also costly to redo. Do they explain that to them before they do it? Most of the women in this photo have hair extensions I'm sure.

3. BODY In this particular photo, most of these women had liposuction and other plastic surgery. What ever happened to good old exercise and eating right? I think that before anyone gets any plastic surgery, especially a face lift, they should be forced to watch a video of it first. I saw a face lift on tv once, and that cured me from ever wanting one. It was one of the most ghastly things I've ever watched. I think the only thing that could rival the ghastliness of plastic surgery is liposuction. Have you ever watched them do it? REALLY gross. And what ever happened to Rubenesque figures? Okay, I know this is a little PG13 rated, but the following picture is from a painting by Peter Paul Reubens. In his day, this was considered normal and beautiful. If you are sensitive, please avert your eyes. lol I could have used a less naked pic, but it just didn't make my point.














A relative of mine told me once that she thinks that all of society's trends are to make us look like little girls again. We aren't supposed to have big hips. Many models are small breasted. We are supposed to shave our legs and underarms so they will be like they were before puberty. I do think that society's vision of what a woman should look like is warped. And I think that society's vision of what an older woman should look like is warped. I agree that we don't need to look like our pioneer grandmothers who dressed in black and looked 20 years older than they were, but we dont' need to look 18 either. Okay..I'll step down off my soapbox now.

3 comments:

GoodyMom1 said...

i've long said "i'm not fat, i'm just out of date!" ;-)

Lindsay Logic said...

I like the Sundance (www.sundancecatalog.com) and the JJill (jjill.com) models. They have an older model who has grey hair, wrinkles, but is still really pretty for her age. I see her in a lot of magazines and I think it's refreshing that they use someone who doesn't look young, but is still pretty. *L*

Max Coutinho said...

D,

I swear I ask the same questions, but let me go through each item:

1. Teeth: lol true...cause if they didn't take care of themselves prior to the show what tells us that they will afterwards? I agree: teeth aren't that white, they are ivorylike...it is not the same. I loved your expression "they whiten the teeth to a nuclear reactive white." LOL LOL...great!

2. Hair: Yeah, the real challenge would be to actually manage to make a make-over without dying their hairs..now that would be more credible! LOL extensions are terrible, and one can tell that it is fake *nodding*. Besides, as you said, it is extremely expensive to maintain.

3. Body: lipo is terrible, it seems like they are sucking fat out of a piece of meat...it is soooo gross! And then the skin turns purple, disgusting! I prefer to grow older in style (eat properly and exercise till I drop)! What a gorgeous picture: I loved it! At that time women were loved by what they were; nowadays they aren't loved at all, they are wanted *nodding*...
I love my hips, I love my curves and I refuse to go stick thin to please any man...Thank God my fiancé loves me the way I am otherwise he could forget about me lol....

Great post, D!

Cheers