Keeping up Appearances

Keeping up Appearances - Is it ALL Necessary!!!

Rae Hamilton talks on 'Midlife Style and Me'



A few articles lately on the net have really started me wondering....while trying to budget for what  it is actually necessary to spend on personal maintenance, and getting fed up with the whole aging thing.  Twirling from skin specialist to GP to Naturopath to dentist in an effort to stay healthy.  Not to mention nails, hair and beauty therapy to stay looking good.  It didn't seem that long ago that a hairbrush, toothbrush, moisturizer (sometimes,) definitely mascara and sometimes lipstick was all that was necessary.

Then there is the question of weight.  Why do we as women feel the need to constantly maintain a weight we and society are happy with?  And why does society expect women to become more conservative with their dress as they age? I guess it's just a matter of meeting one's own personal values and for me, although I wish this wasn't the case, less kilos wins over more cake.  And, I love cake!!

The first article I read that really made my blood boil detailed how women over 50 should dress.  ie. do not show too much skin, wear shirt dresses to the knee, invest in a tweed suit, maintain a short hairstyle etc. etc. Fortunately for me the article was a blog that allowed comment so naturally I aired my views on what I thought of the author.  And, even better, I didn't receive a reply.

Then I saw this article by moony on yahoo:

Why is society so picky about womens appearance, but totally lax on guys?

'Women must be fashionable, have good hair, be beautiful, be slim, be healthy (but be able to eat significantly, to show they're not high maintainence), have the perfect balance of natural beauty and makeup, always be looking good (even in the midst of something like a tornado), never have saggy breasts, always be perfectly shaved in armits, legs, genital region, and other areas, have a "good voice", have good posture, always smell great (even after the gym), never sweat (even after being at the gym), dress well but not too proper or too slutty, have a shapely body, be excellent in bed but not have slept with many men, be "innocent" sexually but also "naughty", etc etc etc, all the while being NON high maintenance though women are ALWAYS being ridiculed for not looking good enough, while "looking good" takes work. You can't have a perfect woman who gets ready in only 10 minutes.

What does society require of men? let me think....hmmm.....Hmmmm....HMMMM. I can't think of anything that is near as pressured by society in terms of men. Men have it SO lax. You can do whatever, look whatever, smell whatever....without consequence, or with very little consequence.'

and.....guess what one guy answered?

"Because traditionally the hierarchy for females was based on beauty whereas the hierarchy for males was based on physical prowess and size... nowadays in a civilized society size and physical prowess are not must-haves since we no longer have to hunt and kill our food... we have supermarkets... and external threats are dealt with in methods other than power and speed... a bear is an external threat but we have guns now so Kratos-like strength is a non-factor...However the hierarchy for beautiful women remained nonetheless meaning you're screwed and we got away scotch free... us males beat the system and you gals have a long way to go still..."

Not a healthy message for young women but fortunately there is some fabulous comment out there:

Take a minute to watch these videos -

One that helps drive unnatural expectations for perfection via photoshop
Check out the before and after





And this glorious one that is pro-age
Would you believe this Dove ad was banned from being shown due to the nudity content...and yet near naked girls are shown dancing provocatively on music clips

So, what do you consider mandatory maintenance?  For me - the hair maintenance is the last thing I will give up as I will never have that beautiful mane of white hair that some women have.  My Mother was still rather salt and peppery even in her early nineties.  Also, I will always visit the skin specialist to have nasty things removed and continue with all sorts of potions that make me feel better from my naturopath.  And, power walk to keep the weight off in good Nike gear of course.


And, before you go here is another video worth sharing,
called 'The one flaw in women'



How about you - what won't you give up and how do you keep the costs down?

Join the conversation below on what you consider mandatory maintenance