TLC and the Age Game

[velvetpage]

I watched What Not to Wear this afternoon, and after it came a new show which I totally loathe. It's called "Ten Years Younger." They get some poor sod to stand in a glass box and get 99 passersby to comment on how old she looks (it's usually a she) and what specific features give that impression. Then they offer a 24-hour makeover that's supposed to make their victim look a decade younger, i.e. their actual age or a bit less.

I have several problems with this premise.

First, our perception of age is skewed by celebrities. These perfectly-groomed people spend their whole lives and an absolute fortune making sure they can play teenage roles at thirty and twentysomethings more or less indefinitely. They have personal stylists who manage every aspect of their look, up to and including their plastic surgery. They do not look their age - they look like a facsimile of a much younger person. A person of average income and lifestyle has neither the time nor the wealth to devote to such a pursuit. For them, the age-to-looks comparison is way off.

For that matter, many factors affect the age we appear. Oily skin doesn'r get wrinkled or start to sag as soon as dry skin, so those of us with oily skin are always going to look younger. Some folks are grey at 25; others have their natural hair colour at 50. Going through a pregnancy or three can dramatically, permanently alter the shape of a woman's body, as can nursing that child, and women who look like mothers look older than women who don't. And the list goes on.

So, if I were to line up 25 30-year-old women, all in business or semi-casual attire, and get 99 people to guess their ages, I'd be prepared to bet that the average age they'd guess would be higher than 30 - not because the women look old, but because the people looking at them don't have a clear idea what thirty is supposed to look like.

There are other complaints I could make, but I'm tired of one-handed typing, so I'll stop.

Comments

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

It's funny. I used to be inspired all the grizzled old surfers on the beaches of LA. I thought was great that these old geezers still surfed everyday. Not only that, but these old guys were in fantastic shape, toned and ripped. I remember thinking "Man, that's how I want to look when I'm in my sixties." I made this remark to one guy I was sitting next to as we waited for the next wave. He laughed and told me he was only forty five. Whoops. The sun and salt aged these guys' faces way prematurely. Still, being in that kind of shape at forty five is still way cool. I'd trade a few wrinkles for fitness and the fun of surfing anyday.

[lala-annie.livejournal.com]

I agree. Plus the whole concept of old=bad young=good is flawed.

Besides....who CARES how old you are? Especially random passerbys who you will never see again.
And your friends and family, and people you spend time with usually know your exact age.

The whole thing is just teaching women to spend way to much time and attention on their appearance, instead of thinking about more important things, or make changes to the world around them.

I really don't know any makeover shows I don't really hate. =)

[(Anonymous)]

I don't mind the ones that are mostly about clothes and hair - doing the best you can with what you've got. They still bug me somewhat, but the fact that they give people enough money to totally revamp their wardrobe is going to benefit them for a long time to come, so it kind of mitigates the appearance=worth aspect. However, any makeover show that includes any type of plastic surgery or chemical peel loses me really fast.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Uh, that was me. Forgot to log in. :)

[blue-comet.livejournal.com]

That show is so hideous. And they don't do anything to promote healthy lifestyle changes, and the changes they make are often temporary... I saw them plumping up a woman's mouth with collagen fillers to eliminate smoking wrinkles, but that wears off after a few months, and they told her she should avoid smoking to prevent the wrinkles from coming back sooner... no mention of what it does to her health!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I've thought for a long time that school health classes focus on the wrong things. They tell teens that smoking will ruin their health, cause lung cancer, etc, but they forget that teens think they're immortal - none of that will happen to them. If they told them it will make their teeth stained, their skin yellow, everything they own smell, etc, etc, they'd get a lot fewer teens smoking.

[(Anonymous)]

The ones that are aparently having some effect are ths ones that say, in effect, that the tobacco companies are hoping you'll be stupid enough to fall for their advertising... No one wants to be considered stupid.
Stupid is not cool, nor hot, How did those two words get to mean the same thing, anyway?

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

Why don't I watch T.V. again? Oh, right... it's because shows like this depress me about the state of humanity.