An article in the magazine focuses on just that topic. In the article, twelve random strangers are given photographs of women and asked how old they perceive each woman to be. The magazine gives tips on how to erase years from the faces of the women who are seen as "too old." Aging is an inevitable part of life. On one hand, "older people represent a valuable source of skill, knowledge, and energy that we can't afford to cast aside" (Coon, Mitterer 110). On the other hand, "it is no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty" ("Beauty and Body") in today's society. .
Unfortunately, the society in which we live today concocts everything from face creams to plastic surgery to slow down the process instead of embracing the good that comes with aging and maturing. The goal is to remain young and beautiful for as long as possible. "There is a sadness that hangs over vanity of this sort. Life is obviously over at thirty-five. In the extreme, these people identify their person with their body" (Powell 108). The idea that men age more gracefully than women do is not necessarily true. Many have bought in to this belief because the beautiful women depicted in advertisements and pictured in beauty pageants are all young and beautiful, in addition to the fact that these young women are desired by men of all ages. This gives a false impression that the beautiful women are the young women. .
As a result, society is blinded from seeing the beauty that comes with being an older woman who has experienced life because these are the women commonly seen in wrinkle cream ads or cleaning product commercials. The media often neglects to show that one can be beautiful at any age and instead favors the young over the old. According to Jean Kilbourne, a woman depicted in the advertising world these days "has no lines or wrinkles (which would indicate she had the bad taste and poor judgment to grow older), no scars or blemishes--indeed, she has no pores.
