"I hate, hate, hate the way beauty culture conflates beauty with youth and youth with goodness, like it’s a moral imperative to look as young as possible."
I LOVE this -- the ethos expressed, the self-reflective writing, the way you articulated that stance on aging. I also refuse! I was just talking to my friend, E, in her 40s whose dark hair turned gray in her 20s. Recently, she decided she was over it, the time and money, and stopped. Her mother, who still dyes her own hair, said that it made HER "feel old" to see E no longer putting in the labor of trying to look younger. "But it's just that when you dye your hair, you look so much younger than you are, and you look beautiful, and I want you to be able to have that!" And your sentence about how putting all this effort into beauty robs us of our REAL sources of power -- money, time, etc. -- so that we can APPEAR to have power. That's brilliant.
that last comment was the one that hit me! how many resources are you giving away, resources that would actually work to strengthen you + your community, to the ever-consuming black hole of aesthetic "empowerment"?
Anyone who knows me knows how much i agree and align with you on anti-anti-aging! 😂 If you wonder how you’ll feel at 56, I’m here to tell you I haven’t changed my mind yet. Sure I have moments of doubt, like anyone, but I’m still on message and glad to hear about anyone who feels the same and is able to articulate it well and on an accessible and welcoming and well-seem platform. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I LOVE this -- the ethos expressed, the self-reflective writing, the way you articulated that stance on aging. I also refuse! I was just talking to my friend, E, in her 40s whose dark hair turned gray in her 20s. Recently, she decided she was over it, the time and money, and stopped. Her mother, who still dyes her own hair, said that it made HER "feel old" to see E no longer putting in the labor of trying to look younger. "But it's just that when you dye your hair, you look so much younger than you are, and you look beautiful, and I want you to be able to have that!" And your sentence about how putting all this effort into beauty robs us of our REAL sources of power -- money, time, etc. -- so that we can APPEAR to have power. That's brilliant.
that last comment was the one that hit me! how many resources are you giving away, resources that would actually work to strengthen you + your community, to the ever-consuming black hole of aesthetic "empowerment"?
brilliant, brilliant i tell you!
Anyone who knows me knows how much i agree and align with you on anti-anti-aging! 😂 If you wonder how you’ll feel at 56, I’m here to tell you I haven’t changed my mind yet. Sure I have moments of doubt, like anyone, but I’m still on message and glad to hear about anyone who feels the same and is able to articulate it well and on an accessible and welcoming and well-seem platform. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
(Well-*seen*, sorry autocorrect decided to trip me up right at the end, there!)
Nice work, Oldster! Isn't she brilliant? See excerpts from my conversation with DeFino here: https://valeriemonroe.substack.com/p/scorpio-season
Oooh! Click! Thanks, Valerie.