Dear Banshee,
Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about getting rid of all the wrinkles I'm accumulating. When I look inthe mirror, the old tired person I see just doesn't resemble the me I would like to see. Do you think I'm too vain? What would you suggest, Botox or surgery?
Aging Grace
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Dear Aging Grace,
First of all, I do not think that you are too vain. I think it's entirely appropriate to spend time and money maximizing one's physical appearance. Our physical appearances are a tool just like any other personality trait. Good looks are almost essential in certain professions and aid in advancement in many others.
However, I think that you may be a bit too hung up on youth. Botox and facelifts are not designed to merely make a person look attractive. Make-up, day spas and the like are designed for that. Botox and facelifts are designed to artificially make a person look younger than they are. Perhaps I'm too young to understand the obsession with youth, but I believe that women need to embrace their age. Certainly, wrinkles are a drawback, but there is an elegance that can only be achieved with age.
I would direct you to verse three of Martina McBride's song "This One's for the Girls." Martina sings:
This is for all you girls, about forty-two.
Tossin' pennies into the fountain of youth.
Every laugh, laugh line on your face,
Made you who you are today.
But, if you're determined to do something drastic in order to appear younger, I would have to recommend Botox over plastic surgery. I'm lawyer, not a doctor. So, this recommendation is based solely on what I've seen on Discovery Health Channel. But, plastic surgery just seems a little risky. First of all, general anesthesia is nothing to sneeze at. Second, it's gonna be crazy painful. And, after you've undergone all that, there is no guarantee that you're gonna like your new look. Even when the price tag is left out of the equation, it just doesn't seem like plastic surgery wins in the cost-benefit analysis.
~ Wild Banshee
If you've got something on your mind, please Ask Banshee.
