Is forty the new twenty?

Sixteen and absolutely no sense of style

Me in the black dress at 23

Me at 37

Me at 41, present day

Have you all seen the movie Body Snatchers? With our current obsession with age and beauty it seems that many of us are turning into perpetrators and guilty of this crime ourselves! No longer is plastic surgery just for celebrities, the trend has trickled down to the common “man” and now anybody with the funds can have a little nip and tuck. They too can become Stepford Wives. Maybe not as mindless docile housewives but plastic Barbies with the perfect teeth and that ever youthful but store bought  body. As I have mentioned before in my other post about plastic surgeries, I know every woman has a right to do what she wants with  her body but all I’m saying is do it for yourself if it really is something that will make you feel better. However, why not try to be comfortable in your own skin however big, small or loose it is? Why try to change into something or someone that is unrecognizable?

In 2011  Vogue magazine urged their readers, “Just take a look at the celebs who have just passed 40, or who left it behind long ago. They are more secure in themselves, more mature, more self-deprecating, wiser – but, most of all, more beautiful.”  Then they went on to describe how beautiful  stars such as Winona Ryder, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker to name a few. While I have to admit they look great and worked hard to look that way, I have to interject, that many of them are too obsessed with their diet and exercise in their quest to stay young. If they really have more matured and are secure why are they depriving themselves or interjecting their faces with botox?

Is forty really the new twenty? What exactly does that mean to you? Is it a state of mind? Is it just a passing phase or fad? Or maybe it is just an excuse for us to run out to the nearest plastic surgeon to regain some of that “youth” back? If we really are more matured, secured and feel more beautiful then why are we trying to go back to our past in terms of looks or behavior. What’s wrong with us being forty and admitting it and say this is me: flaws and all. Being forty means, accepting who you are without making any excuses or concessions.

Where in the world is my nose?!

As long as I can remember, I have always been self-conscious of my nose.  Actually in my case, the lack of a bridge on my nose!  I have a flat nose and I used to hate it so much.  I remember as a teen, I would do all these crazy things I heard from other people that would miraculously make my nose more pointy and not as flat.  For example, some adults told me that if I pull on the bridge of my nose every night, it would help.  You know how when you have a headache, you pull on the bridgeof your nose to relieve the tension? Well, I was doing that hoping it would help.  Obviously, it didn’t work because the only thing I got out of it was a red nose!  That really made it noticeable!  Okay, I have to admit, I was very stupid and naive as a teenage and yes desperate for my nose to grow.

Another crazy thing I did was try to put the close pen on my nose thinking that it would help.  That hurt like hell so I quit that real fast!  It felt like a crab grabbed a hold of my nose and refuse to let go!  I’m sure by now you are probably thinking how stupid I was and I couldn’t agree with you more.  The only defense I have is that I was desperate!  I wanted a pointed nose like my American friends! Also, I got tired of some of them asking if I could breathe okay or smell this or that with my flat nose.  My response was always the same, I would indignantly point at my nostrils and questioned , ” Don’t you see these two holes?”  Of course, my friends was joking but it still made me feel self-conscious. It made me wonder, how do they see me?  Do I look weird? Ugly? Do I look like a platypus to them? What would I look like if I had a higher bridge? Would it make me look better or worse?

On a serious note, I did consider rhinoplasty until I saw some Laotians who had it done. It changed the way they look so much that they no longer look ethnic.  It was weird for me to see Laotians who went from having flat noses to pointed noses as I call it.  Of course, it made them feel better about themselves so that is all that matters.  However, for me, I am too scared that it would change my look so much that I will not look like a Laotian anymore. Also, how about if you end up hating it and got stuck with it unless you were willing to redo it again.  That would cost more money, time and pain. For some people they are willing to go under the knife.  As for me, the answer is no to rhinoplasty since I don’t like pain.  Watching those nose surgery has totally freaked me out.

My nose is what identifies me as Asian.