[QUOTE=Nava]
About the ultra-beautiful staying beautiful, a lot of that depends on how much of their beauty is bone structure. If it’s flawless skin, they’re screwed.
I once saw a photo of an old woman and thought “wow, that woman’s stunning! She looks like Ava Gardner, must’a driven them nuts when she was young.” Aaaaaah… she was Ava Gardner. Wrinkled, yes, but those bones! If I wasn’t a straight female, those are bones to kill for. Dang.
But there’s many other actresses that need a great effort of the imagination to find the young girl inside the old one. Some Spanish divas from the 50s have been ironed and pulled so many times that their eyebrows now smell like feet, but all they’ve managed to do is look like rich old women - not to look beautiful.
[/QUOTE]
I recently met my uncle’s girlfriend’s mother. My uncles girlfriend is probably fifty - and a woman who was probably absolutely stunning when she was 22 - and isn’t bad looking at all now (though I think her look is a little young for her age). But she has this killer smile. Her mother is 75 and I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone more wrinkled. But the same killer smile. And both of them put themselves together each day with that sort of attention to detail that keeps less attractive people presentable and makes attractive people more attractive (Clothes that fit and hang well in colors that look good, appropriate jewelry, appropriate makeup. Attention paid to their hair - a skill I’m still picking up, btw - my mother does it, and I can still leave the house looking like a slob).
[QUOTE=msmith537]
Yeah well, I hate to break it to you but half a century is generally considered “old”.
And my point is that you don’t find a whole lot of women who look as good as Christie Brinkley does at 50. Especially without the benefit of a “soft-focus” lense.
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I wasn’t serious. I understand that 50 is old, for purposes of this discussion. I am old, in this context. Actually, my wife has aged very well. She wasn’t in Christie’s class 25 years ago, but she has aged better. Few would put her over 40, and her legs are smoother than Christie’s.
[QUOTE=Nava]
Some Spanish divas from the 50s have been ironed and pulled so many times that their eyebrows now smell like feet, but all they’ve managed to do is look like rich old women - not to look beautiful.
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I love your turn of phrase, Nava. My co-workers are wondering why I’m laughing in my cubicle now. I won’t even mention the fate of the Pepsi.
[QUOTE=Joey P]
Yeah, but those are celebs bringing in millions of dollars a year for a lot of years. What about the receptionist in a 30k/yr job but due to her looks was bringing in 50k and living quite nicely. Eventually she loses her looks and at some point the company decides to bring in a new face. What does she have? She went into this job right out of high school and now she’s 50 with no skills.
Same goes for a hot waitress at an upscale restaurant that was taking home $200/night in tips, or a saleswoman that made a hefty commision because she could sell anything to anyone.
[/QUOTE]
Well, she has 30 years of experience as a receptionist, plus whatever else she learned on the job.
Realistically, very few people are so one dimensional. Your receptionist example may have found a nice husband or had some kids. She might actually have much more depth that no one ever noticed because they just took her as a hot piece of eye candy.
Besides, if the company is going to keep her on for 30 years, they aren’t likely to replace her at 50 just because she old. They would have replaced her when she turned 30 and her hand crystal lights up.
Basically, beautiful people can (I don’t dare say ‘do’) get away with their looks for sometime, but when the looks fade, they’ve got nothing to back them up.
[/QUOTE]
Well, except for the ones who are smart, talented, personable or have some sort of marketable skill. Which is to say most people.
Beauty is much more subjective than the media would lead us to believe. as a man of 53, my taste runs more to women nearer my own age. The current crop of celebrities Linsday Lohan, Paris Hilton, Brittany Speares ect. leaves me unnaffected. Just my opinion, but Holly Hunter (48) is much more attractive than Angelina Jolie. Likewise Joan Allen (50), Allison Janney (47), Rosanna Arquette (47) and the list goes on…
The thing about beauty is that not that many people truly see it in themselves when they look in the mirror. I think it’s more common for people to be seeing their own perceived flaws. Women are always looking at old photos of themselves and saying, “I was so pretty!” and they can’t believe it because at the time they thought their nose was to big or something.
I think people do get depressed to lose their looks if they believe that was all they had going for them but that’s low self esteem. People who have low self esteem often find one thing they think makes them acceptable like maybe their looks, or their job, or their partner or their sexuality, and then they’re in big trouble if they lose that thing because it was all they ever thought they had going for them. It’s not caused by being beautiful though and I don’t think most beautiful people have that problem.