A new
deadly sin?
Now that lust
is no longer designated a deadly sin (so
said several ‘experts’ a few weeks back), I
am sad to report that a new one looms on the horizon. It is the state of being ugly, a
condition closely related in public consciousness with being, or rather looking, old.
I say this with some gloom and certainty having noted
the recent poster campaign for a new Sky TV series Nip/Tuck. The posters were ‘ironic’, intending
to provoke indignation. They carried such messages as ‘Doing a nose job
for rich old women’ or statements about sex being nicer with a body that has had
cosmetic surgery, presumably referring to penis enlargement and vagina tightening.
Ironic maybe, but they also hit a nerve, I fear. There are people out there (not you and me I hope)
whose values really do echo these sentiments. Ugly/old is bad, and now that something can be done
about it, ugly/old is also a dereliction of duty, a sin.
If we have the money, we should seriously consider
ways to make ourselves look young if we are old, and flawlessly beautiful if we are not.
Wrinkles, thinning hair, poor muscle tone - the
natural consequences of ageing – are beyond
the pale, and even, possibly, beyond the interest of cosmetic surgeons who don’t want to use their
expertise on ‘hopeless’ cases such as
‘rich old women’.
I have always taken the view that it’s a personal
choice whether you have cosmetic surgery or not, and how you spend your money is your own
business. After all, many of us buy skin creams
and special beauty treatments, which may be more affordable, but are still a way towards
preserving looks. Exercising to stay in shape
is another popular way to look younger longer. So there should be no extra moral weight when
choosing the knife.
Of course, not everyone young is beautiful; not
everyone old, either. But if we didn’t
idealise youth, we wouldn’t see ageing as the natural condition of ugliness. Older faces usually express more wisdom, humour,
vivacity, compassion than younger ones, all of which expressions carry their own kind of
beauty.
But we are being increasingly conditioned or
programmed not to see this. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and our
vision is getting narrower and more selective as we see, without always registering
it, the art of the cosmetic surgeon in the faces of our public figures.
Will the time come when those who can’t
afford/don’t want nips and tucks are regarded as social pariahs? Worse still,
will we become ashamed of our signs of ageing and see them as signs of ugliness and
even failure? And if so, how will we be able to
present ourselves to the world as an increasing elderly population with views that must be
taken seriously?
Perhaps there
should be a movement, Old And Proud of It (nice one: OAPI). Come to think of it, there is, only it happens to be
called laterlife.com. We’re here to
represent your views and interests and to make you feel valued because, in the words of
another ad campaign, we know you’re worth it. Nevertheless,
being forewarned is being forearmed. Don’t buy into the ugly/old attitude. Your children and grandchildren, when they get old,
won’t thank you for it.
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Talkback is a regular
feature in laterlife.com run by journalist and author Helen Franks. 
