Favourite clippings lovingly gleaned from newspapers, supplements, local press and magazines...Age. It's an issue the glossies often handle awkwardly – preaching age acceptance on the one hand but filling
their sheets with images of 20-year-old models for inspiration and ads for age-defying skin creams to thwart the inevitable onset of time. You know you live in a warped society when women fear wrinkles more than death.Perhaps a men's magazine can cover the issue more honestly? The May issue of Esquire, the Women's Issue with Christina Hendricks on the cover, caught the attention of writer Lee Tran Lam for this reason: "I’ve started reading Esquire and (surprisingly for a men’s mag), am really loving it! They recently ran a Women’s Issue, and one feature had interviews with all these women at different ages – 18, 27, 35, 44 and 53. It’s really a great snapshot of how people change over time. Some of the comments are throwaway, but quite a few are inspiring or thoughtful and funny."
The spread she refers to features head-and-shoulder shots of more than 50 women. I think Darlene Lyon, 44, best sums the whole thing up when she says, "The reality hit me in the waiting area for this shoot. I'm not 18. Or 27. Or 35. I'm 44!". Isn't that just the thing – we can happily course through life completely uninhibited about our age or wrinkles or cellulite or weight or greying hair until something in the media, or the sight of a lithesome 18-year-old in short-shorts at the mall, puts us right back in our place.
Poo to that. The most generous thing we can do for each other is to just be real, which is why I salute Mia and her tummy and bare-faced blogger Jodie Anstead and any glossy that celebrates age and beauty and womanhood in an appropriate way (enough skin and body tips from Miranda Kerr!) and to accept that ageing, like cellulite and winter-time weight gain, is inevitable, so why not roll with the punches and get on with living life?
As for Esquire, it may have put busty, airbrushed Christina Hendricks on the cover, but applause for showcasing women of all ages in a natural, uninhibited, non-sexualised way, together with their insights and quips. Now, I'm off to Sydney to celebrate my mum's 58th birthday!
Contribute to The Clippings Post!Lee Tran is being sent a copy of French songstress Emilie Simon's latest album, The Big Machine (thank you, Cartell Music), for her troubles. Follow her lead and secure yourself a copy by submitting a clipping this week! Here's how...
1. Scan in your clipping (single page is
preferable – no 6000-word essays from The Monthly: we don't want to fall asleep).3. Provide credits (publication, date, author/photographer/illustrator/stylist).
4. Explain why you enjoyed the column/story/page layout/illustration/image/styling.
5. Supply mailing address so you can be duly rewarded with a plump new book for your bedside table.
6. Stay tuned to see if your clipping made the cut.
GWAS Note: Look forward to a mammoth double-edition of Media Musings next week unless I manage to sneak some Mac time en route to Sydney.
Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel
2 comments:
That looks like a really cool article - and very unexpected in a women's magazine.
I actually tend not to feel intimidated or nostalgic when confronted by lithesome 18-year-olds in short shorts - partly because I know that when I was 18 I was not that girl, and I know that most 18 year olds are not that girl either. I actually think I look better now, ten years later, and think most of the people I know do, too.
I also think there's a lot of pressure to live up to that very, very slim, modelish ideal of beauty when you're very young. By the time they reach their early/mid-twenties, most people are starting to grow up and evolve beyond that - and that god for that.
I also salute Mia and her tummy.
Erica, can you post the 27 year old one? For I am that age & I'd LOVE to see it! X
Post a Comment