Those aren't cupcakes!
After the dramatic BBC America documentary last week, Super Skinny Me, I was all set to watch this week's featured show, The 476-lb Teenager. However, an extra round of baked latkes and icing-drenched dreidel cake in the suburbs made me a wee bit late in getting home, so I only caught half.
But I was pleasantly surprised by the show that came on after SSM: the movie Calendar Girls. I'd heard the buzz when the film came out a few years ago but never saw it...but I'm so glad I did on Sunday! If you haven't seen it, the movie is about a real-life group of older women who strip for a charity calender in Britain. Chaos ensues as news of their stunt spreads worldwide. Naked 50-year-olds! Naked 60-year-olds! These feisty, brave women should've been in my book!
I love how, bit by bit, the ladies slowly shed their inhibitions along with their clothes for a worthy cause (one of them lost her husband to cancer.) Whether camoflauged by a bush and pruning sheers or barely concealed by a tower of cupcakes, their grace and inner beauty caught the attention of men nationwide while bringing comfort to other women--be they cancer survivors or simply women struggling with their body image.
As we've all heard in the media lately, negative body image is a growing problem for women other than teenagers. In July, a story broke about how more and more experts are encountering women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and older seeking help for anorexia and bulimia - some treatment centers are even creating special programs for more mature patients. Many of these women have struggled with previous body/weight issues and the stress of a divorce or loss of a loved one retriggers the disordered thinking. It can also simply be the pressure of living in today's pro-youth society as an older woman. Childbirth may have led to major changes in the way one's body looks; even gravity just kinda takes its toll.
Some women deal well with the changes in their body as they age; other fall into the trap of self-loathing and perpetual dieting. What I loved about Calendar Girls was how their nudity was, in their minds, secondary to the real goal. Wobbly bits be damned! While researching Locker Room Diaries, I interviewed many women in their 70s and 80s who had such wise advice to impart about aging and accepting one's body...how it changes from an object to be lusted after to a tool to let you live you live healthily and happily. That chapter was so inspiring for me - it gave me a lot to look forward to.
On the mature-and-feeling-grovy tip, I'm reminded of a recent New York Times article called The Fonda Factor, which explored the mushrooming industry of Jazzercising Baby Boomers. There's a whole new crop of fitness instructors leading women in their 40s, 50s and 60s through tough DVD workouts, like Cathe Friedrich, age 43 and power walker Leslie Sansone, 45, who has appeared on iVillage as well.
And who can forget Becky Love, the 91-(now 92, maybe)-year-old yoga instructor I interviewed for my book and spoke about here? Don't even get me started!
Beauty at every age, indeed!
Fun facts:
Jane Fonda released her first VHS in 1982.
Kathy Smith is now 55 and Denise Austin is 50. Tamilee Web, where you at?!
Comments
I'm only 37..yes I know, quickly approaching 40....but Cathe has been my go-to dvd (her core series) for a long time now. Love her!
I love that movie....I may have to watch that again this weekend if we get snowed in. Thanks for the reminder! As one who will be 45 very very soon (ok, next month), I am at the point where a choice must be made to age gracefully or fight.
I think I will age gracefully while kicking and screaming. ;)
Many of these women have struggled with previous body/weight issues and the stress of a divorce or loss of a loved one retriggers the disordered thinking.
