TLC and the Age Game
Sep. 21st, 2006 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageI 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.
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.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-21 09:18 pm (UTC)