Plastic surgery shaves 9 years off your age (click), at least according to this recent study. I had to emphasize the word study because it seems only one plastic surgeon did the procedures, three people were on the research team and, unremarkably, one of the researchers is a medical consultant for Allergan Canada …a health care company that specializes in, you guessed it – facial aesthetics, breast implants and obesity treatments. But it’s not really surprising. Advertising ‘youth’ is big money …money that we don’t seem to mind spending.
We’re a society largely preoccupied with being younger than we are. I understand the urge to be young, it’s natural, but to go to the extremes many of us do is borderline psychotic. It’s almost a curse to be old in society, or at least to look old, and we’re unashamed in admitting this. We skew photographs, live on a constant diet, obsess over fashion and surrender ourselves to the knife, botox and liposuction treatments. And why? Well …because young isn’t old. Old is, I guess, washed up or something. Young is new and fresh. Old is sooo yesterday, and in the modern world full of technology and whatnot, the future is where it’s at, not yesterday. And who doesn’t want to be where it’s at! I mean, if you’re not there …where are you?
I’m here. Although I suppose, from what others tell me at least, I’m lucky that I look somewhat younger than I am. I sure don’t feel it though. Not lately at least. But it is disheartening though, to marginalize a large group of people because they’ve simply grown old. It’s almost as if we care less as to what’s inside people than what’s on the outside. Almost. Isn’t that the important stuff though …the stuff that’s on the inside? Of course we’ll say things like ‘what’s on the inside truly matters’ …but I think that’s more lip-service than anything else at times. It seems to be at least. Some too might say it’s a celebrity thing, but then aren’t we the ones deciding who gets to be a celebrity?
I caught a glimpse a while back of an interview with Dolly Parton. I was sad. No …maybe not sad, but perhaps more let down. Here’s a wonderful person who has given wonderful things to the world through her wonderful music – but it’s as if that wasn’t enough. It was like we demanded more from her. In this interview she made the comment “If I see something sagging, bagging, and dragging, I’m going to nip it, suck it and tuck it.” which is a testament of sorts to her journey through cosmetic surgery, and I guess this is the part that, yes, did make me sad; that when a great song like ‘Coat of Many Colors’ (which is an inspiring song about being who you are, being proud of yourself no matter what your situation, and not being caught up in what other people say about you) can come from such a warm and thoughtful individual …how is it that we as a society could have forced this wonderful lady into looking like something else? Being more than what she naturally is? How did we let her down, and where did we go wrong?
Of course Dolly has image issues, and who wouldn’t being in that spotlight she always is …but we share part of the blame, and it bothers me that someone so honest and caring is pushed into feeling that being herself ‘physically’ is never good enough. That being and growing old isn’t an acceptable thing.
One is only old only if you choose to be.
—–
Coat Of Many Colors – Dolly Parton
Back through the years
I go wonderin’ once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
And I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
Every piece was small
And I didn’t have a coat
And it was way down in the fall
Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin’ every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of.
As while she sewed, she told a story
From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said
I hope this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness
And I just couldn’t wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss
My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
Momma made for me
So with patches on my britches
Holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors
I hurried off to school
Just to find the others laughing
And making fun of me
And my coat of many colors
That momma made for me
And oh I couldn’t understand that
Cause I thought I was rich
And then I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch
And then I told them all the story that
Momma told me while she sewed
And why my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes
They didn’t understand it
And I tried to make them see
One is only poor
Only if you choose to be
It is true we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
Momma made for me
Made just for me
