Recently a friend and I were having lunch and someone at the next table was reading an article about the band, Aerosmith. On the page was a large photo of Stephen Tyler, the band’s singer, showing every crack and wrinkle in his impossibly yummy face.
My friend, “Man, he hasn’t aged very well.”
Me. “Who are you kidding? He’s in his fifties, had sex with half the women on the planet, smoked more dope than Columbia can grow in a year and probably has a liver resembling swiss cheese.”
My friend. “Well, he’s really starting to look his age-”
Me. “Hell, I was looking my age at 17, that’s when my chin began to breed other chins so as to not be lonely any longer.”
We live in a shallow, superficial society that doesn’t want us to be happy with our bodies. The cosmetic industry is a multi-billion dollar money maker while diet pills / plans rake in another billion or so per year – they are making money by causing people to feel bad about themselves.
Who’s the sucker?
The moment we see a blemish or wrinkle, the word plastic surgery crosses our lips. We eat a healthy lunch then immediately want to drive to the surgeon’s office to he can lipsuction the lettuce leaves with no dressing from our butts.
WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??
I can’t help but think the lines on someone’s face tells the story of their lives. You see the women with the plastic surgery and their faces are a smooth expressionless mask. Is that how the feel on the inside? Empty? Blank? Shallow?
Then you meet the woman with the laugh lines (not crows feet for crying out loud – crows don’t have THAT many toes) and she’s the one who is quick to smile and her eyes dance with amusement. Is that how she feels inside?
In the movie STEEL MAGNOLIAS, Dolly Parton has a line something like, “time marches on then you realize it’s marching across your face.”
So true.
I embrace my wrinkles and my gray hair – it is the story of my life and I’ve earned every one of them. They are as familiar to me as my name and I have no desire to surgically change that either. When did it become a crime in this country to embrace the glorious creature you are with no modifications, no knives and stiches, just life?
As for Stephen Tyler, I don’t care if his face resembles a Shar Pei dog – that man is HOT, ladies. Just looking at his mouth has me reaching for the ice water. 
I agree, he’s still really hot.
Thanks to television and movies, we are in danger of raising a generation of self-absorbed celubatante wannabes.
For Pete’s sake, women, leave your lips alone. If you weren’t born with thick luscious ones, too bad. Someday, they’ll go out of style and we thin-lipped beauties will reap the benefits.
LOL! About the same time, a butt wide as a door comes back in style.
I embrace my fat butt—or I would if I could reach around it. But my hair—I color it. I gotta be blonde no matter how many brain cells I’m killing.
“I can’t help but think the lines on someone’s face tells the story of their lives.”
They do, huh? Oh, do I have a story to tell!
I happen to agree, though, and while I’ll remain a brunette as long as my elbows can bend upward, I’ll keep my wrinkles and spare chins. All I want to know is, where are all those people who should be reaping the benefit of all my hard-earned wisdom?
Delle Jacobs
I think Steven Tyler could look a lot worse considering what he put his body through for several years.
Dolly Parton is hilarious. I saw her on the Today Show talking to Al Roker about plastic surgery or something like it, and she told him and all the viewers, that if it’s sagging or looks off, it’s getting fixed. Or something to that effect. I thought it was hilarious. I guess she has no problem with keeping her body tight. smile
Then there is Joan Rivers. Hard to tell if plastic surgery was good or bad on that woman.
I have thought about getting a boob job, just for the fact that my two kids stole them and I can’t get them back. Could care less about the loss of my butt. I hardly look at it anyway. But I don’t know if I would ever go under to get a boob job. Too scary and too expensive. I wouldn’t want to go back to get them repaired.
I so agree! Many people are way too concerned about how they look, and not concerned enough about what’s inside. Personally, I don’t want to let any doctor slice up my face or poke it with botox needles. (shudder) I like my laugh lines! They show I have a sense of humor.
But I will probably continue to color the gray and exercise to keep the weight off until I get tired of fighting the aging process. We all have at least a bit of vanity to live with. It’s a matter of deciding how much is too much.
If we’re not happy with our lives, no amount of plastic surgery, miracle creams or diet pills will fix it.
Well said, Meg – well said!
I like to color my hair and wear fun clothes, but all surgery scares me, much less elective surgery!
But then, so does a lunch composed entirely of lettuce leaves
“…that’s when my chin began to breed other chins so as to not be lonely any longer.”
ROFL – Oh, so that’s what happened to mine! I didn’t realize it was so lonely!
Great post.
People in today’s society are way too obsessed about their looks and not worried enough about what’s on the inside.
If someone wants plastic surgery (although, why you’d want to have surgery that wasn’t a medical necessity, I’ll never understand), that’s fine. It’s definitely not for me. I want a face that shows I’ve lived life.
Now, I wish my body had a little less padding. LOL But I can live with it or exercise it off. I’ve never colored my hair and have no plans to at the moment, but who knows what the future might hold. Although, I’ve had the grey for a few years now and I’m actually quite fond of it.
Character my grandmother called it. I’d like a face with character and if that means having a few lines then that’s okay by me.
Age is largely a state of mind.
I used to be proud of my birthdays. I’d survived another year. This last one hit me pretty hard. I’m 50 years old…five decades…half a century…old.
I’m coming to grips by going after my dreams. Last year Samhain published my first novel, Blood Atonement—a dream come true. They’ve contracted my second. I’ve held a tiger cub in my hands and ridden a camel. Parachuting from a plane has yet to happen, but it will.
Another dream? You romantics will understand. I’m looking for my soulmate. No matter what age a person is, love can happen. I’m a romantic, too. I believe in love.
I thought this was very well written and I had a few chuckles while reading it. Nice work JC.
It reminded of a few weeks ago looking through old photo’s with my 20 year old daughter, she said Ma if you could, would you go back to when you were like my age and were reed thin with waist length platinum blonde hair and big boobs? (all natural lol), I said not for all the money in the world.
Reading this I realised it was true, sometimes I feel like I am the only person that was happy to “fill” out as they got older. I don’t mind the lines on my face either, they are laughter lines from enjoying watching my kids growing up and they will get deeper as I watch my grandkids no doubt. And having such fair hair is apparently a blessing so my hairdresser said, she informed I have a few grey hairs but you can’t see them because they blend in with the blonde.
I was and still am a big Aerosmith fan and my daughter also commented Steven Tyler was looking a bit haggard after seeing photo’s of him recently and comparing them to photo’s I had from the late 80’s. She was amazed that he was 48 in the ones I had and that he is now 59. She figured he had led a hard life and was about 40 now lol, the young don’t really have much concept of aging gracefully or otherwise sometimes.