Beauty Unrepresented

Beauty Unrepresented

A Story by N.A.
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It's about aging in the America.

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Here’s the problem with 18 year-olds saying, “when I’m forty I’ll be old anyways...So YOLO.” I get it and understand it. Youngsters have been growing up believing that once you reach a certain age you’re no longer important, relevant or attractive. Hopefully most young adults will realize like I have that you can be important, relevant and attractive at any age.
Young people learn from the older people about this nonsense. When I was around thirteen my mother told me what her mother told her when she was little, “Youth has a beauty of its own.” I agreed. But I have to say that aging has a beauty of its own too. “Look I was beautiful and now I’m ugly,” is what my Abuela said while looking at a portrait of her young self. I never found her ugly. I might be reading too much into it and Abuela really doesn’t care or give what she says much thought. But old does not equals ugly. Someone can be ugly at any age and almost nobody looks right when they’re first born. Babies are funky looking, sorry.
I live in a culture that not only doesn’t respect old adults but also does not valued them as full human beings. And the elders themselves sometimes don’t value themselves because they are old.
Point is beauty should be as diverse as people are. In this society it's not diverse. It's young, light skinned and thin or "ripped." If someone completely foreign to American culture flipped through our beauty magazines they would agree we're obsessed with this type of look.
Most Americans are trying to be special variations of the same thing, young. I wouldn't use that word, beauty, to describe the pictures in the magazine. Those are just pretty or weird. And there's a difference between beautiful and pretty. Look it up in the dictionary.
I know beauty exists outside the norms but yes beauty in underrepresented. We're airbrushing our insecurities and holding them up like it's art when it's merely a distraction. It's a picture of our damnation into modern hell.
Maybe I’m a little annoyed because I’m going through a mid twenties crisis and a little tired of eighteen year-olds talking to me like I’m ancient. “Oh wow you look like you’re still in high school. Good for you.” That’s disgusting. I used to dance to “Crazy In Love” in the mirror while wearing a pare of bedazzled knock-off Uggs in high school. I had an identity crisis every three hours all throughout high school. That was a bad time, a really bad, weird time.
Is the time frame of youth is getting narrower or is that just me? I thought 23 was still young. I have to say it; this obsession with youth is taking a creepy pedophilic turn for the worst. I know healthy self-esteem is probably out of fashion but I like my adult body. Society puts an invisible barrier between me and older folks. I try not to pay attention because it doesn't really matter how old my friends are or if they look they're age or not.
Everyone, even young people should be offended by old bashing. You're all getting older and it's completely fine. It shouldn't be the end of happiness or adventure. Bashing the old is bashing humanity. It's insulting every human being and it's unacceptable. I take personal offense to this old bashing (or middle age bashing) because I plan on living slow and dying old in a van or tiny house down by the river. Of course that’s if I don’t die horribly in some death trap, barbaric piece of machinery (also known as a car) before I get my precious Terra. And if you think that’s uncool you can kiss my a*s.

© 2013 N.A.


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Added on November 15, 2013
Last Updated on November 15, 2013
Tags: beauty, pretty, aging, old, young, youth, essay, rant, america, american

Author

N.A.
N.A.

CA



About
I am a person. I grew up in Southern California. I write fiction or I rant about things that bug or intrigue me. I also have pathetic poems. So enjoy the crazy. more..

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