Storm

We’re having a snow storm today.  The snow started around noon, and has continued falling; the forecast calls for it to end maybe tomorrow evening.  Jerry didn’t like the cold — we were at -10C feeling like -18 with strong wind.  He’s right now chasing his toy around the room, pausing to scratch me to throw it for him.  Don is napping on the sofa, so I’m up for throwing things.  It’s so amusing watching him scampering around and pouncing on his toy, then bringing it over to me.  I’m in a strange mood today.  I feel tired, and I’d like to sleep, but I want to do several things and I have no energy for it.  It’s frustrating, and I’m angry with myself for not being able to be productive.  I’ve got to do some things tomorrow that I’d put off from today, although it just means more to do in less time.

I have a question for beauty companies… if you really want us to believe that your anti-aging products work, why are you using teenage models?  You do, of course, realize that with the internet we can identify the women in your ads, most of whom are barely 18, and none over 30!  I also wonder why you work so hard to devalue women who have lived, and whose faces are no longer smooth and unlined?  Eternal youth has been something that’s been sought since… well, literally thousands of years!  It was talked about in the Odyssey and in the earlier myth of Tithonus (he whose wife asked for eternal life, but forgot to ask for eternal youth, so he aged and shrivelled…)  I read an article recently where researchers think they’ve identified chemicals that can slow the aging process.  (Apparently, as our cells grow and divide over time, errors occur in the copies, and become more numerous the older we get.  That’s a huge oversimplification, but it’s one of those learning moments.)  Anyway, every time I see a commercial for beauty products, the models are all very young… then there are monumentally stupid taglines like, “Who needs DNA when you’ve got <product>” and some full length informercials that are endorsed by celebrities (who’ve undergone extensive surgery and who have money for expensive care) with people who claim to be actual users.  I’m always surprised by the apparent ages of the models, as I thought that they were older than they claim… That being said, I’m not one who uses a lot of products to “combat fine lines and wrinkles,” partly because I like my laugh lines, and partly because it seems like a waste of money.  Yes, I have my people who look after my skin and makeup and all those things, and I’ll indulge sometimes in a facial, but I’m not about to undergo surgery / injections or buy a small cream at $200+… 

I think that I feel so irritated with these commercials because I’ve never liked it when I’m expected to conform to some arbitrary beauty standards.  Growing up, I never saw anyone in a magazine or catalogue who looked like me.  They were all usually blonde, or very white-skinned; someone who was called “dark” was white with black hair and eyebrows… still white!  The rare black woman was much darker than I am, so I didn’t fit with the groups on the pages.  It was later, when I was an adult, that models were more diverse; and when I lost interest in fashion magazines.  There was also a minor struggle growing up, between the stricter, “makeup is bad” upbringing of my mother and grandmother, and the “makeup is fun” experience of my friends.  It’s so odd, I think, that so much money and effort goes into men telling women how to dress and dictating fashions.  Why is there this artificial set of standards that says that “this decade, this is how we want women to look.”  I mean, just look at the really painful things that women are expected to use:  eyelash curlers, waist trainers, corsets, eyebrow / leg / bikini wax, laser hair removal, stiletto heels… every one of them is advertised to “improve women’s looks” — and usually there are articles mentioning the dangers associated with them.  There was, not long ago, a woman news anchor who was fired for not dying her hair and letting it grey… that’s not something that men are subjected to, and it really shouldn’t be done at all.  How about if we stopped pushing the idea that we should maintain the same size throughout our lives?  I’m tired of ads with women who starve / surgically alter themselves to fit into a size 0 dress. Heck, it’s ridiculous to have a size 0 — that would indicate that you’re not physically present!  

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were able to accept people as they are?  That we didn’t encourage people to change their appearance to be considered as lovely?  If the entire beauty surgery — with its implants, fillers, Botox — were to disappear, I think it would make for a better world.  Even better would be if less emphasis was placed on women’s  looks and were more appreciated for their character.  I think it may be that I’m annoyed at the thoughtless people who ask me “so what’s your secret to losing weight?  You look so pretty now!”  I’ve been saying that’s it’s the cancer — would they like to take it from me?  So far no takers!  Sorry — Jo keeps telling me to ignore them but some days I just can’t…  Jerry is now pushing me with his nose; he wants up on my lap and is very persistent!  GTG, Good night!