The Psychology of Appearance and Aging: This is not about vanity - It's about your identity

This is not about vanity - It's about your identity Discuss the learned 'expectations' based on the characteristics of an Aging appearance- as evidenced in part by the ageism demonstrated by society-it doesn't look good on us. Regardless of the surrounding countenance, the power of a SMILE or 'sparkle from the eye" is worth a thousand words. And is seen as being 'beautiful'. 

• ALISON O'Neil askalison@mac.com
• http://beautybecomesyou.org/
  
  

Chat Transcript

12:11:02     From Joe Sperling : Is it more than vanity that drives the effort to appear still "young"?

12:12:55     From Karen Vassar : Our society is drawn to "young" often to the point where "old" is invisible.

12:15:42     From Joe Sperling : I've read that beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

12:16:30     From Joe Sperling : Attitude is vitally important!

12:17:17     From carol ragsdale : I'm camera shy, especially on Zoom. I avoid virtual meetings for this reason. Is there a way to use makeup to help my appearance?

12:18:19     From Elaine Kamm : On Zoom under Video settings there is an option that is "Touch up Your Appearance"

12:18:23     From Elaine Kamm : It works wonders

12:19:08     From Wanda Sola  to  Hosts and panelists : Elaine, is that a filter?

12:19:56     From Susie DiGiovanna : To me, it seems that in our society, we haven't received the message that WE WILL ALL change as we age and that is normal - and can even be good!

12:20:24     From Rich Carlson  to  Hosts and panelists : Wonderful point about the title “senior”!! Love it!!

12:22:22     From Dixcy Bosley  to  Hosts and panelists : “ Beauty is that place you feel most alive. It must always be partnered with truth.”

12:22:47     From Meryl Schaffer : When I was born, I had 3 great grandparents still alive.  The last one died when I was 18 yrs old.

12:22:48     From Joe Sperling : The term "Elder" was one a designation of respect.

12:23:43     From Karen Vassar : One of the reasons I chose home care as a career is because I was around my grandparents as I grew up and saw the challenges that come with age.

12:25:38     From Rich Carlson  to  Hosts and panelists : Would love to have you put that phrase in chat about young people are ….and “seniors” are a work of art, etc.

12:26:07     From Dixcy Bosley  to  Hosts and panelists : Steve, can you put the link of the photographer in chat?

12:28:22     From Meryl Schaffer : Attitude is EVERYTHING!!!

12:29:11     From Kathleen Steed  to  Hosts and panelists : I just returned from an all-female, beginning boxer class.  We are ages 70 through 94.   The instructor, Kareem Collins,  is fabulous.  In his class, I realized that he treats us as contemporaries.  Until now, I did not recognize that other instructors treat us as old, as in, “If you have shoulder issues, avoid this” or “If you can’t stand, clutch on the bar.”  Kareem interacts with us as if we were in our late 30s, his age. Everyone absolutely loves his classes.  Again, until I joined Kareem’s classes, I did not recognize in other exercise classes that I was being treated as an old person.

12:29:57     From Meryl Schaffer : I am not able to play tennis any more.  However, watching the tennis professionals on TV is absolutely thrilling.

12:31:09     From Kathleen Steed  to  Hosts and panelists : What is the name of the person who had a young face and the old face of each person?

12:31:18     From Wes Morrison : Can you put the name of the artist  with the artwork of people looking in the mirror

12:31:52     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community  to  Hosts and panelists : Aesthetic Health Initiative Trends for 2023 https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/?s=aesthetic

12:35:07     From Deb Guy  to  Hosts and panelists : I love what Alice is sharing!

12:35:55     From Re Estrada  to  Hosts and panelists : I used to be a make up artist.  As one gets older, trust me,  Less is Definitely More!

12:36:18     From carol ragsdale : Thank You!

12:36:32     From Meryl Schaffer : In addition to the caption feature, I depend on looking at facial expressions to understand what they are saying.

12:38:00     From Wes Morrison : Some  seniors are negative about  themselves  because of bullying, name calling  harassment about their looks  and it carries over  into adulthood

12:39:45     From Joe Sperling : We earn our wrinkles!

12:40:09     From Meryl Schaffer : It is sssoo important to look at the positive rather than the negative.

12:40:48     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : From Joe Sperling to Everyone 12:16 PM

I've read that beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

12:43:16     From Ginger Smith : At 86 I laugh at the wrinkles I earned.

12:46:27     From Susan Jones : I had a similar experience on a hike in Puerto Rico where my husband and I were treated like everyone else, even though we were 30+ years older than anyone else

12:47:22     From Dinah Kudatsky : I'd like to recommend watching the classic Twilight Zone episode, "The Eye of the Beholder", where the concept of beauty is turned on its head, with the inevitability of self-acceptance at what cannot be changed. Here's a clip with a review:

https://youtu.be/AwElMV0QqZ4?si=_VjtJPQzF9MiCiMk

12:48:58     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : The name of the photographer I referenced is Tom Hussey - his series is called Reflections

12:49:24     From c donley  to  Hosts and panelists : Are you aware of Senufo body sims and, if so, what do you think of them?  Supposedly work electromagnetically  on the body’s meridian points.

12:50:50     From Meryl Schaffer : Thank you!!!

12:51:12     From Elva Roy : WII tennis

12:51:20     From mary busse : I worked in a retail environment where the young people did anything they could to look older, and I laughed that my wrinkles were an advantage.

12:52:09     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : Discover a Virtual Reality Community for Older Adults https://www.retirementlivingsourcebook.com/videos/discover-a-virtual-reality-community-for-older-adults

12:53:56     From c donley  to  Hosts and panelists : Senufo.  Sorry for the misspelling.

12:55:02     From Susan Jones : Steve, I was just listening to an NPR story about teens wanting people to listen and hear them.  I think it would be great to have a Conversation Across the Ages.  It builds on the session you did with the Professor that talked about Cross-generation interaction.  Have you had a session on this topic?

12:56:48     From carol maxwell : What was the reference to LED lighting on skin?

12:56:52     From Susie DiGiovanna : The book sounds amazing! Ponds cold cream is what my beautiful grandma always used

12:57:01     From Marcia Fox  to  Hosts and panelists : Great title for a book!

12:58:18     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : From Re Estrada to All Panelists 12:35 PM

I used to be a make up artist.  As one gets older, trust me,  Less is Definitely More!

12:58:50     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : Senufo.  Sorry for the misspelling.

12:59:10     From Lynn Reid  to  Hosts and panelists : Can you repeat the magnetic modalities you just mentioned?

12:59:18     From Re Estrada  to  Hosts and panelists : Can you repeat what you said about LED?

12:59:27     From Susie DiGiovanna : Red light therapy works to help produce more collagen. Omnilux is one brand that sells face, neck and hand masks (not a product rep)

12:59:53     From Susie DiGiovanna : Meant to write "I am not a product rep" :)

13:01:21     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : High Frequency Facial with Light Therapy

13:01:49     From rose thorn : What do you think of micro-needling?

13:03:03     From Elva Roy : What do you recommend for facial hair removal on females?

13:03:05     From JOYCE DIMMOCK  to  Hosts and panelists : In an AGEISM society, this presentation was powerful!

13:05:31     From Steve Gurney - ProAging Community : Beauty Becomes You - Designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization since 2006 http://beautybecomesyou.org/

13:10:21     From Marcia Fox  to  Hosts and panelists : Thank you so much Alison! Wonderful presentation. Marcia Fox

13:12:31     From Susan Jones : Another EXCELLENT Presentation!!!  Thank you so much!

13:12:32     From Johanna Levitt  to  Hosts and panelists : Thank you