Are You Considered Ugly If You Are Over 50?

DO YOU LIKE YOUR AGE? ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH YOUR AGE?

The general consensus is that the age of 50 is more like the new 30. But we know it is the people 50+ making this statement and not those who are under the age of 50. So, the younger people laugh and say of course an old person is going to claim they are not old. But 50 is 50 no matter how you slice it right? Is it true 50+ year olds want to be 30 somethings?

On average, 69% of women aged 45–60 reported feeling at least six years younger than their chronological age. Women in their fifties still feel sexy, vibrant, beautiful and desirable. And the truth being told, women 50 and over, look fantastic if they have taken care of themselves throughout their lives. They are still dating, a part of the fashion scene, and active socially. That's why culture has added the word MILF.

The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Recon­structive Surgery (AAFPRS) conducted a survey of ap­proximately 500 women between the ages of 45–60 to find out what they think about the changing face of 50. The general consensus is that 50 is more like the new 30. 

Now, more and more men and women are not happy with just looking 10 years younger, mostly because they feel closer to 20 years younger. This is especially true in South Florida, where image and youth are very much looked at. People are invested in LOOKING younger because they are LIVING longer. In the past, they didn't care how they looked 50 and beyond because death was knocking at their door. That is no longer true. Today, for those 50 and over, looking younger isn't an attempt to be "in" with the 30 somethings with all of their problems the older person has already overcome. We don't WANT to be you. Been there done that.

Despite wars, economic upheaval, and climate change, global life expectancy has increased markedly over the past 70 years, from 45.7 years in 1950 to 72.6 in 2019; even with the drop caused by COVID-19, we are still outliving our parents and grandparents by a significant margin. Today, living into the 90s or even the 100s is more likely than ever before, particularly with a commitment to making healthy life choices, to say nothing of large-scale improvements in healthcare, sustainability and infrastructure that also increase longevity at the societal level.

All this added longevity necessitates a review of our career and health habits. Back in the day, people worked for 25-35 years, usually until they were in their late 50s. The average age of retirement in the United States was 59 in 1991; you would then expect maybe 10 more good years, 15 if you were lucky. By 2022, that average age had gone up to 66 — and now, people are living 20 to 30 years longer than that.

A 50-year-old who works out regularly and with high intensity intervals can be just as fit as someone three decades younger, according to a study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. There is no magic the young have to looking good. They are not favored by the gods over the 50+ year olds. Granted, a 50-year-old will never look like a 20-year-old, but youth does not have the market on what is attractive and seen as beautiful and healthy. Young men and women are using all available resources they can find to also look their best. Cosmetic aisles and medical offices are not solely littered by desperate older people looking for the fountain of youth. All AGES look for ways to look and feel their best.

To physically look less than 50 a person can smooth out their forehead. Unless you have bangs, there is no easy way to conceal forehead wrinkles. And as one of the biggest signs of aging skin, a wrinkled forehead is one of the first things you will want to have fixed. Luckily, with non-invasive injectables like Botox, you can temporarily relax the muscles in your forehead, and smooth out your wrinkles in no time at all. ALL AGES USE BOTOX.

Getting rid of a double chin can be helpful to look younger. As you age, you start to gain fat in places of your body that you never dreamed of when you were in your twenties, including your chin. If you have started to develop a double chin and can’t seem to get rid of it with diet and exercise, Dr. Fiona Wright can help. By using non-invasive procedures like VelaCONTOUR, Dr. Wright can shrink the fat cells in your chin and give you back a more taut appearance.

Hollowed skin shows age and should go. It’s rare that you see an elderly individual with smooth, full skin. Once you hit your fifties, you may notice volume and collagen loss in your cheeks and across your face. Luckily, by using fillers like Restylane and Juvederm, Dr. Fiona Wright can plump up your face and give you back the glow you had in your twenties. On Tic Tok there are tweens showing you their facial cleansing and moisturizing regimen. Ageless beauty seems to take work and is not a punishment for aging.

Let’s face it: nobody wants to look their age. The young person can't wait to be an adult, older, and older people want to maintain their looks while enjoying the fruits of having aged.

One positive attribute of being 50 and beyond obtained and which does not want to be relinquished is age lends a sense of urgency to doing things you’ve put off and finishing things you’ve started. It also makes you deeply grateful for the fact that you’re still here. As a million memes attest to, ageing is a gift not everyone gets to enjoy.

The utter joy of not caring about stuff is one of the most thrilling developments of life many 50 and older relish. They still care about important things, but the small stuff seems to roll off of their backs more easily. 50's gives such joy to realize that it ALL doesn’t matter, and to let it go.

Once those 50+ realize and accept that the first flourish of youth and beauty has gone – that actually, it’s quite hard work keeping up with that too. Knowing that a FIRST flourish means there can be a SECOND flourish. Yes, beauty isn't a one-time fleeting occurrence. Wisdom, from living, teaches there is beauty in every stage in life in many different THINGS and WAYS. Personal, physical beauty is such a small part of living a full life. It seems 50+ can lend itself to having a beautiful MIND.

An aged person begins to know what suits them and stop worrying about it and focus more on what works for them. There’s a huge sense of relief in not being part of that rat race and to largely stop worrying about what other people think about you, and you find yourself doing what the hell you like. 

Hopefully as a person ages, reaching that half-a-century age, they become happier in their own skin, even if it’s not as pert as it used to be, and laugh more easily. With joy they have become better company; kinder, softer. That they let that hard, combative edge that used to make them challenging to spend time with, blunted, and they are a better person for it. Along with being kinder, hopefully also, comes the wisdom and the grace to say no to things more often – which is an act of being kind to oneself. 50+ can become a time of no longer doing crap that you’re supposed to like but secretly hate. Freedom is a beautiful thing in its own right. 

No one has to pity the 30-year-olds or those 50+.  Those 50 and beyond can remember life when it was so much harder at that age, having to fumble your way through life, trying to be a parent and career woman/man and trying to strap on a social life, and pretend to have it all when inside, you’re actually bewildered and exhausted. Those under 50 cannot even begin to want or desire a time when the workplace is saying they are no longer valued or needed, and the doctor is prescribing a new medication at each office visit for a new health concern. When the body crackles and aches with each move and there are lines on the face announcing your long journey of life.

For me, your age is just that, YOUR age. It has been filled with a life only you can live. The way you look at the time of your AGE has nothing to do with the soul, spirit, personality inhabiting the aged body. We need to think about the present that is wrapped under the tree on Christmas day. For a second, the recipient of the gift may exclaim how pretty the present is wrapped but then in a violent frenzy (most of the time) they tear off the wrapping with much anticipation to discover what is inside. Even the most horribly wrapped gift with the ugliest wrapping paper will never be declined to be opened.

Be the present that you are and hopefully, with an ounce of grace, the least thing a person will say about you in gratitude is, "IT WAS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTED."

Are You Beautiful or Cute?

One thing I have noticed is that people call me CUTE. I will go shopping and people will say, "Oh, your hair is so cute, or your outfit is so cute." I have never heard anyone say, "Oh, my gosh, you are so beautiful." When I was in my early 40's, I wondered why I was called CUTE and not beautiful and was there a difference?

The first definition of cute is appealing in a pretty or endearing way. I believe when women compliment me and call me cute, they find what I'm wearing and how I chose to put my outfit together along with the way I styled my hair - pretty. My fashion style is a little boho mixed with a little mischief or eccentricity. I like to wear something a little surprising. Whether that is the costume jewelry I choose, shoes, or purse I wear, I try to wear at least one thing a little eye catching, and even my hair may be the focal point. So, I guess CUTE may be the appropriate response.

But MEN always call me CUTE. They usually have a mischievous smile when they say I am CUTE which somehow always made/makes me blush and also have a mischievous smile. I could/can never understand what was going on with this type of exchange. That is until I saw the second definition for CUTE. The second definition for cute is sexually attractive. Wow! Now I'm even more perplexed. Men call me CUTE but never BEAUTIFUL. Why?

There is no shortage of beautiful people. There are the naturally beautiful people then there are the ASSISSTED beautiful people (cosmetic surgery). I did a blog post about beautiful people being winners. 

According to some research, people who are perceived as attractive may have an advantage in life. For example, attractive people may:

• Be more likely to get hired for jobs.
• Have stronger social skills.
• Be considered more dominant, sexually warm, mentally healthy, and intelligent.
• Be more likely to get elected to public office.
• Have an advantage in getting jobs, career advancement, salary, and tips.
• Receive more positive responses when dating.
• Have lower life pressures.

Beautiful people enjoy more perks than cute people. To be considered beautiful means you are pleasing to the senses or mind aesthetically or of a very high standard; excellent. So, being labeled as cute means I am not pleasing to the senses, yet I'm considered sexy. That's strange. Don't men want to have sex with a person who is pleasing to the senses?

The word CUTE definitely doesn't exude sex appeal on its own, but it's a positive word. Just because people associate the word with kids (My husband does hate when I call him cute) and small animals doesn't mean its degrading. Cute has two completely different meanings. A cute girl is not the same as a cute child. Therefore, if you're cute, you are attractive and desirable in your own way. Some boys find a cute girl attractive, fascinating, and possibly a sexual turn-on. They may also feel a sense of pride if a cute girl returns their interest and attention. They may be subconsciously anticipating that cuteness will grow into adult beauty. So, I guess men believe one day I'll become beautiful?

“Evolutionary psychology theory holds that men value current fertility (found in the body) more in a short-term mate and reproductive value (found in the face) in the long term.” Men like BEAUTIFUL women more so for their body and for short term relationships. We all know how attracted a man is by a nice 'butt' and breasts. Women undergo procedures to have the rumps and breasts men want. Their attraction to these features makes a man consider the woman as HOT, not even beautiful or cute and hot women win with men.

It is said you just cannot compare both. Still, majority of boys would go for hot girls/women rather than cute girls/women. Cuteness is adorable but hotness is preferred. Yes, if someone hot is not tasteful to the heart, cute ones would always be preferred. So, I guess I will forever be cute. Are you cute, beautiful, or hot? Here is what is said to make a woman/girl cute:

She evokes a heartwarming feeling. A cute girl makes you feel safe and comfortable to be around. She gives a wholesome and heartwarming feeling. She’s a very good friend, who’s playful with her crush and loves telling jokes and messing around. CHECK

She thrives is a smaller setting. A cute girl is too timid to steal everyone's attention at a party, but she's the one who stands out in a more intimate setting. Everyone wants to be her friend since she's so friendly, approachable, ad trustworthy. If you have a problem or need advice, she's usually the first one you seek. CHECK

She's innocent or a little weird. Cute usually goes with innocent, which is why the word is usually linked with children and pets. However, it doesn't only refer to the girl's looks but also the way she behaves. When she does something or says something a little innocent or weird, you can't help but laugh and say, "Oh my God, you're adorable!" She's not doing this to stand out or to be quirky, it's just the way she is. And we love her for that. CHECK

She's not intimidating. As mentioned before, the cute girl is usually shy and shines better in small settings. She may not be the type of girl that you'd see in a bar and want to hit it off right away. But if you do want to, you'd feel less pressured than when approaching a sexy girl. CHECK

She looks cute. Next on the cute vs hot list, we have appearance. A cute girl looks cute. How do we define a cute appearance? A cute girl wears feminine clothes that enhance her soft features, making her look youthful, but not childish. CHECK

She's a lady in the streets, but a devil in the sheets. She will surprise you with the things she can do when it comes to sex. Because she may look and sound innocence, her sexuality in private may be a welcomed surprise. CHECK

She loves helping others. A Cute girl has a heart of gold. She enjoys helping people. And in a relationship, she's usually the one who takes care of her partner. CHECK

She's a romantic. She's the one who cries while watching romcoms or reading a romance novel that doesn't have a happy ending. Her head is always in her fantasies, where the love of her life is her favorite fictional character. She loves using pet names and being called by pet names. This is also why she has high expectations when it comes to love. Whoever dates her will be a very lucky guy, because he'll get cute texts from her every single day. CHECK

How many checks did you have?

If anything, cute is often preferred when people want to compliment someone, since it carries less emotional significance. Cute Vs. Hot: 16 Unique Traits that Make a Girl Very Sexy or Very Adorable (lovepanky.com)

The hot girl is confident in life and also in the bedroom. She doesn’t mind making the first move and flirting with guys. And she always makes sure that she gets whatever and whoever she likes.

A hot girl exudes sexual appeal. No matter what body shape or what size she is, the hot girl doesn’t mind flaunting her curves.

Passion makes a girl extremely sexy. A hot girl is passionate about everything she does: work, study, life, hobbies, and sex. She’s hard-working and knows exactly what she wants, which might be intimidating, but it helps her eliminate all the men who aren’t good enough for her.

Yes, a hot girl isn’t afraid to show her curves, but she can choose not to and still be sexy. The truth is, a hot girl is hot because she’s hot, not because of some article of clothing *although it can help*. Because once again, beauty is subjective.

Another difference between cute vs. hot is that the cute girl may or may not be opinionated, but a hot girl always stands her ground. She knows what she wants and what she believes in, and she won’t let anyone invalidate her feelings. In the battle of cute vs. hot, the hot girl stands out as someone who is sure of herself and doesn’t care what people think. She does what she likes, follows her dreams, and is not afraid to be herself.

To my surprise, CUTE wins out no matter what others say, in the long run, then hot or beautiful. Usually if a guy calls a girl “cute” it is much more personal and intimate than only the girl being beautiful, because any girl can just be “beautiful”. He might find something endearing or “cute” about you that also goes in hand with your appearance. 

So, thank you to any man or woman who have called me CUTE. I guess it is just my style and essence. 

How to Fashion Style a Recession

 

Attention fashion and style bloggers did you know this theory/fact?

My mind started to reach a foggy fact I had heard somewhere at some time about the economy having an effect on whether women wore the hemline of their skirts or dresses longer or shorter depending on the economic climate.

The news article, I was trying to remember, if memory serves me correctly, stated that dress length/economy correlation was first propounded by US economist George Taylor in the 1920s.


During the Great Depression, hemlines reached as far as the ankles

Taylor argued that women wore shorter skirts in boom times because they could afford expensive silk stockings and wanted to show them off. During a recession, however, the skirts grew longer, because the women couldn’t afford stockings and wanted to hide the fact that they weren’t wearing any.

The story said Taylor’s theory had been surprisingly accurate. In the 1920s, 1960s and 1980s, which were boom times in the US, hemlines rose. On the other hand, they reached down as far as the ankles during the Great Depression.

The stock market’s measure of consumer confidence has far-reaching implications. Fashions, such as women’s hem lines, tend to follow the market (high hem lines and high stock prices imply confidence in various areas of life). Movies such as the gangster movies of the 1930s, Godfather style movies of the 1960s, and Batman or Darkman in 1990, follow the stock market contractions of the same periods. Financial indicators such as home construction and buying, auto and major appliance purchases, vacations, etc. all follow the stock market cycles, and in fact stock market trends measure the confidence and psychological attitudes of peoples (including those who are not investors), and thus provides a convenient and concurrent mathematical measure of attitudes and a wide range of economic, political, and societal events.


So, with all of the economic turmoil going on in America these days, will we see longer dresses on an everyday basis? We have already poked fun at Target for its prairie looking dresses offered to their consumer. And with goods not reaching stores due to lack of workers to off load them at ports, the selection of clothes to purchase has dwindled in stores. I have noticed the change and rearrangement of store floorplans in an effort to camouflage the lack of selection of clothes. 

Add the addition of masks to style and fewer people working and socializing, has fashion taken a downward turn along with hemlines?

In 2008 this was the question on the mind of almost all fashion designers. What will women want to wear during our economic downturn? 

This is what fashion had to say about the rise and fall of hemlines, "The oldest adage about fashion and the economy is that hemlines rise and fall with the stock market. In the boom times of the 20s and the 60s, skirts were short; in the 30s and 40s, they fell. Except that, on closer inspection, even this most famous theory fails to hold water. During the wartime years, arguably the period of greatest privation in modern history, hemlines were shorter than before or after the war; in the recession of the early 90s, hemlines fell. We cannot rely on skirt length alone to track the economy through fashion."

After 9/11, upscale New York boutiques reported a surge in demand for lower-heeled shoes: on the shopfloor, they said, women were explaining they wanted shoes they could run in if necessary. The financial crisis has not had the same effect: "heel heights have been rising steadily for several years, and look set to continue their skyward trajectory next season."


Betty Jackson keeps it simple. Illustration: Betty Jackson, "a downbeat stock market is not necessarily reflected in downbeat clothes."

Indeed, according to fashion historian Valerie Steele, "this whole idea that fashion is a 'reflection' of the economy is a misnomer. It would be more accurate to say that fashion and art are as much a part of living history as the economy is." What happens on Wall Street, says Steele, "is mediated through the manners and mores of the time before influencing the fashion aesthetic. In the 60s, for instance, what impacted fashion was not so much a booming economy as "the anti-conventional youth movement" which flourished in a booming economy.

The hemlines theory was invented back in the 1920s. But it just doesn't hold up. Take the 20s - hemlines actually began to fall in 1927, two years before the crash. They were falling by 1969, two years before the downturn of 1971," says Steele. 

In many cases, fashion designers appear to have an ability to read the writing on the wall, without waiting for the newspaper headlines. Between 1936 and 1939 fashion began to pick up on the rumble of warmongering, with military-inspired square shoulders teamed with lower heels. Even nightgowns sported three-inch shoulder pads. At other times, we may misinterpret clothes in retrospect in the light of world events. Christian Dior is usually credited with grasping the mood of the moment with his joyous, full-skirted Corolle collection of 1947, which launched Dior's New Look - but in 1939, before the outbreak of war, the Paris collections of Chanel and Mainbocher were both modelled on a full skirt and a wasp waist. With the war came a dampener on fashion, and the trend did not catch on until Dior revisited it.

Rosemary Harden, curator of the Fashion Museum in Bath, agrees that the notion of a catwalk aesthetic which straightforwardly reflects the economy "feels quite glib. It's much more complex than that, and I think it's important to unpack it a bit. The 20s and 60s were a time not just of boom but of liberation. The short skirts of the 20s were driven as much by the rise of sportswear as by the stock market. The sense of liberation cut across the social spectrum - there are photos of my grandma in south-east London wearing short, knitted skirts. The 20s, like the 60s, was a time of opportunity, a time of people not feeling shackled. Opportunity led to newness and experimentation. It is connected to a buoyant economy, but the link is not as direct as people imagine."

Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys department store in New York and author of the memoir Beautiful People, is rather blunter. The notion of fashion design reflecting the economic mood is "a total fallacy. Fashion people live in a creative hermetic bubble and are rarely so tuned in to the political or financial vicissitudes of the world. The idea that they might have a Dr Strangelove conclave where they confer about hemlines and the economy is hilarious." Nonetheless, he says, "there is one certainty about recession, which is that fashionistas will buy less - by which I mean one pair of Louboutins instead of three."

It seems we are in tune with Doonan, whose advice to customers "is always to dress up rather than down, in tough times. You owe it to your pals, family and colleagues to present yourself in an optimistic and fabulous way. Remember what Quentin Crisp said? 'When war broke out, I bought five pounds of henna.' "

So, there you have it. Women will do what they want to do when it comes to fashion. Whether the hemlines grow longer or get shorter; the point will always be - to look fabulous.

Being Bootylicious

When it comes to beauty, it is subject to change and is always in the eye of the beholder. No matter what a culture, society, or an entire nation deems beautiful, a woman will do everything to embody those designated standards of beauty.

Members of the Long-horn Miao people, China, believe that very long hair and an elaborate hairstyle that involves many folds are essential for female beauty. The women of the tribe wear huge wigs made of hair strands that belonged to their ancestors, making them a very precious beauty accessory. However, this gorgeous but complicated hairstyle can be very heavy, so it’s worn only on special occasions, not on a daily basis. In the United States, the hair weave industry is estimated to have over 9,000 businesses. On average, a pack of hair weave costs around $95 in the United States. The hair weave industry has created approximately $190 million in sales of hair care products.

For the Mursi tribe, large, colorful lip plates are a symbol of great beauty. This interesting accessory is more frequently worn by newlywed and unmarried women than by older married women who have children. Teeth blackening is an old tradition mostly present in Southeast Asia and Oceania, but it was also common in India as well as Japan before it was prohibited in the Meiji era. Facial tattoos and bright red blush that accentuates the cheeks are considered beautiful among Moroccan women, especially those who belong to Berber tribes. Aesthetic surgery is immensely popular with South Koreans, especially among young adults. There is a common belief that looking attractive increases the chance of landing a good job. Having crooked teeth is considered youthful and charming in Japan, so much so that girls go to the dentist with a somewhat strange request to make their teeth purposefully uneven. Nose surgery is such a popular beauty proceedure among Iranian people that the country holds the record for rhinoplasty. 

A relatively new trend of growing out and dying armpit hair has taken Western countries by storm. After decades of being taught that women should shave their body hair if they want to look attractive, the rules are changing before our eyes. Many women chose to treat their hair as a beauty accessory rather than an obstacle to feeling and looking attractive.

It is interesting that during certain times in history, a woman with a little junk in her trunk was highly desired. Then the plump woman became ridiculed for her excess fat rolls and the stick thin woman became the standard of beauty. Then, culture could not decide which feminine form was most desireable and men could lust after both physiques at the same time in the era of PARIS HILTON and KIM KARDASHIAN. Not only the men believed each body was desireable, women could CHOOSE which one they preferred and the KIM KARDASHIAN butt became widely embraced.

Of course African American woman had been sexualized during slavery and that carried over for generations in America. Long before Kim Kardashian used her 'behind' to gain fame, Black women had shapely backsides and as the rap song testified, "I like big butts and I cannot lie" The song, Baby Got Back, by Sir Mix-A-Lot, released the song in 1992. The song caused controversy because of its outspoken and blatantly sexual lyrics objectifying women, as well as specific references to the buttocks, which some people found objectionable. Mix-a-Lot defended the song as being empowering to curvaceous women who were being shown skinny models as an ideal for beauty.

Black women were known to have plump backsides, but Kim Kardashian made White women having a huge butt a spectacle and if surgery was needed to obtain or gain attention, then so be it. 

May 6th 2024, will mark the 32nd anniversary since the remains of Sara “Saartjie” Baartman were returned to her homeland, in the Gamtoos Valley, South Africa.

For those who are unfamiliar with Sara Baartman, she was born in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. By the time she was a young adult she was enticed by a British businessman to sail with him to England, where she could display her body at exhibitions in exchange for a better standard of living. Sara, the “Hottentot Venus,” being a “Hottentot” woman (a derogatory term given), from the Khoisan tribe, had exceptionally large buttocks and genitals. This physical structure was synonymous of the women from that region.

After a few years of such exploitation in the UK she was probably sold to some other businessman, this time in France, where the mockery and abuse started all over again. After the French public got bored with her she was forced into prostitution and alcoholism. She died of a disease associated with that profession at the age of 25. 

After her death she was carved up and had her brains and genitals preserved in bottles by one of Napoleon’s surgeons. These parts, along with her bones were put on display in a museum called Musee de L’homme, for almost 200 years. After public outcry over the years, the artifacts were taken off display and replaced by casts.

When Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994, one of the first things he requested was to have her remains brought back to South Africa for a decent burial.

Out of embarrassment, it wasn’t until May 6th 2002 before the French finally followed up on that request. Sara’s remains were finally buried near a small town called Hankey, on the Eastern Cape three months later.

Because of the touchiness when it comes to race, it was rarely uttered that this whole experience had surpassed the notoriety of the Elephant Man.

To Sara, there is life after death… The ancestors still speak.

One thing that is for certain, like I said at the beginning of this post, history is circular and one day the big booty is in and the next day the big booty is out. For many women, shapeliness is not a fad. Curves are a part of their DNA. The female body will continue to be picked apart and elevated at the whim of changing standards of beauty. Beyonce let everyone know she was Bootylicious.

One enduring sign of beauty is the character (kind, forgiving, loving) of a person which never goes out of style. A person will be miserable trying to keep up with and embody what culture/society stamps as attractive and desireable.