The Beauty of Aging

Looking for something light and trite to watch this morning so I could effectively multitask, I came upon The Last Showgirl with Pamela Anderson.

Naturally, the movie emphasized how women in this particular line of work are only valuable when they are young and beautiful. And although we try to accept the aging woman as still being beautiful, the reality is that most people don’t really think so. Hence, the plastic surgery, injections, boob jobs, butt jobs, etc., a topic I have addressed more than once in my blogs.

The premise of this movie was Pamela Anderson working in the same place as a showgirl for over 30 years and being told the show was closing. Although she worked with younger girls, she was still somewhat relevant in the show despite her age. Faced with no job in the near future, she auditions as a dance girl and after being told she’s not a good fit, refuses to leave the stage and challenges the director. He basically tells her she can’t dance and the only reason she was hired way back then was because she was young and beautiful. She tries so hard to hold on to her dignity and convince herself she is still beautiful (which she is), and gets support from her younger cohorts who know all too well that they are looking at their future.

But it was even more than just aging in general that made this movie sad to me. It was also the fact that these women bared their bodies and it still wasn’t enough for today’s standards. The younger girls knew they would have to move their bodies in the undignified manner which has become today’s norm in order to find employment, leading me to wonder what exactly our future generations of young women will be expected to do in this line of work.

There’s also an underlying theme as Pamela is being criticized and judged by her daughter and a coworker about choosing this career instead of something more conventional which would have changed her relationship with her daughter and family. But Pamela said she had no regrets because the only time she felt beautiful was when she was in her sparkling costumes, all made up, presenting what she considered to be her best self to her audience.

Is it any wonder why aging women today feel insignificant and invisible? I don’t remember my mother or any of my aunts or older in-laws expressing these feelings. They hated getting old, but they never felt insignificant and I really think this is where social media can be particularly harmful. But that’s a whole other blog.

In closing, but only for today, I’m going to tell you that in finally accepting my aging self, I have found freedom. Not that I plan on gaining 100 lbs. or turning into a shriveled prune if I can help it, but I no longer care as much about how other people view me. And this, right there, is the beauty of aging.