What a strange and disturbing World we live in. I'm closer to 50 than I've ever been and I know so many ppl my age who have had surgeries, fillers, peels, ridiculous lash extensions, suction, not to mention the excessive use of Ozempic for weight loss (or in Australia Wegovy) you name it they're doing it.
I'm at that stage of life when my body is changing quite a bit due to menopause and I have to work hard to stay feeling strong and I can feel my joints, skin and body shape shifting in directions the Kardashians will never experience so I can definitely empathise with people who already have poor body image but I don't understand how low someone must feel to go under the knife which may seem strange because I have a lot of tattoos which I guess is also changing the body scape.
For me the process of getting a tattoo though is a big part of the experience. I enjoy the discomfort and watching the art be drawn on to my skin. Having said that I haven't had a new tattoo for about 15 years and most are at least 20 years old and if I'd known how toxic they are for our health I would have reconsidered but I was too busy rebelling to use my brain back then.
I know it's a bit off topic but I wonder if its similar with people who get all these body modifications, the process of having it done somehow is a stressful experience but also alleviates stress like a pressure cooker. I'm not sure, just a thought.
I go to the gym and I have noticed over the years that people in there are more and more interested in looking at themselves rather than just exercising. Sometimes I observe people spending more time setting up their phone to film themselves than they spend actually working out. And then they sit on the equipment to edit their perfect shot to share with the world (like anyone actually cares what they are doing). I've even heard of one of the new gyms in town having a 'poser room' full of mirrors and equipped with selfie sticks so you can get that perfect shot??? WTF
I also often wonder of the massive muscly dudes at my gym, what is their actual function? Years ago a friend of mine was obsessed with how he looked and spent so much time at the gym that he resembled Hulk. One day we went for a surf. He literally could not even paddle out the back where the waves were breaking and it was the funniest thing to see, this massively muscly guy look so useless actually performing an activity. Ever since then I always wonder when I see someone who looks too perfect or chisselled or botoxed - what is your actual purpose, like what can you do, what is the actual point of all that show and is it even functional? To me it's not what you look like but what you are capable of that is more attractive. I also find that of the people I see getting all the work done, they ae starting to all look the same. Weird. I'd rather be uniquely me.
I'll take my grey haired, sea weathered, 50 something surfing husband over some artificially generated, perfectly useless trophy any day.