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Ruminations Upon Female Aging

Submitted by Tigger_ on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 17:40

I recall reading somewhere that the anti-aging industry, feeding the chimeric hope that women may grasp onto a few more years of youth, is larger than the budgets of all the world's defence forces combined. Whether this be true or not I don't know, but newsagents aren't stocked with hundreds of magazines advertising to women the benefits of the military. So women everywhere should take note of the release of the first new photo of Jaycee Dugard, a woman who was abducted at age 11, and held in captivity for 18 years.

Though she is now 29 years old, she could easily pass for 18, with plump cheeks, no visible wrinkles around the eyes, and without the benefit of any obvious makeup. This is in spite of her having given birth to two children fathered by her abductor.

For more information about Jacyee Dugard, have a read of the wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Lee_Dugard

Dugard presumably had little or no access to anti-aging products so her current youthful appearance is likely attributed to what she didn't do, rather than what she did. What habits of young women did she miss out on during her captivity? Drinking alcohol? Sun tanning? Late night partying?

No doubt. But I also suspect that it was a lack of opportunity to pick up on the particularly female notion that pulling 'funny faces' is a wit of equal standing to the quips of Oscar Wilde or Mark Twain. On any given weekend, the majority of young ladies may be found comporting themselves in such comedic configurations:

What this constant stretching and contorting must be doing for skin elasticity only a dermatologist could correctly answer, but I think I am safe in assuming it is not good.

Nor is it just young ladies given to this mode of humour, this deep comedic vein is still being mined well into middle age, such as Walkley Award winning ABC journalist, Virginia Trioli, who upon hearing Senator Barnaby Joyce's opinions concerning global warming and the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme, was inspired to hitherto unscaled heights of ebullient wit.

Quote:
AN ABC news presenter has apologised to a Coalition senator and viewers after she was caught on air pulling a face and twirling a finger in the traditional manner of calling someone crazy.
ABC2's Virginia Trioli was shown making the gesture on ABC News Breakfast just moments after vision of Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce talking about the Government's proposed Emissions Trading Scheme to tackle climate change was aired.

Do not doubt that her apology is sincere, that one grimace probably cost her a thousand dollars in beauty treatments.

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#1Submitted by Tigger_ on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 18:47.
Tigger_'s picture

Natascha Kampusch

Exploring further into Stockholm Syndrome type experiences, there is the case of Natascha Kampusch, an Austrian girl who was held captive for eight years. Interestingly she regards the typical rites of passage for a young female to be a form of captivity in itself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natascha_Kampusch

Quote:
Priklopil gave her books, so she educated herself, and according to a colleague of his, she appeared happy. Later, when explaining that in general she did not feel she had missed anything during her imprisonment, she noted, "I spared myself many things, I did not start smoking or drinking and I did not hang out in bad company"

She remains ambivalent about her captivity in other respects, such as she now owns the house in which she was imprisoned, and is apparently considering living there again.

http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2009-07-30/15162/Kampusch_to_auction_off_horror_house_items

Quote:
Neighbours say she has moved into the home and can often be seen lounging in the garden or taking broken furniture to a skip outside the house, Austrian magazines and newspapers report.