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“I was highly aware that I had an expiration date, as a woman.”
~ Julia Allison
Some of you might still be wondering just why it is that I have such an axe to grind where it comes to this woman and I’m hoping that this gives some insight. In all honesty, I would post this even if Julia was not in it. I would post this if it was any other woman making such an anti feminist statement. It’s not only offensive but irresponsible. Is this the message women should be sending to each other? That we have “expiration dates”?
I can’t help but wonder what one of Julia’s favorite icons, Gloria Steinem, would have to say about this. It isn’t just the talk of expiration dates that has me so annoyed. It’s the fact that this is coming from a woman who has also said:
I’ve never had anything injected into my forehead or cheeks. Why would you think that??
Upon release of this HBO documentary however, Julia tried to backpedal by saying:
Well, I’m VERY careful about what I say – but I do tend to use legalese. In other words, when I said I had “never” had anything injected in my forehead and cheeks, and I have never had botox, that was accurate. I have had restalyne injected in my nasiolabio [sic] folds twice (that’s the laugh line), which is not, technically, my forehead or cheeks. But I should be more honest, you’re right.
I’ll write a post about it.
Shocker: the post never came. Let’s take a look at where nasolabial folds are located, shall we?
More concerning than the specific statements made by Julia is the fact that the pressure to look young and beautiful is getting out of hand in our society. Why is it than when men age, we consider them to be more attractive and distinguished looking… however when women age it’s seen as unattractive and that she has let herself go?
I have my vanities. My looks do matter to me. I am turning 30 in June and yet… I don’t see laugh lines yet, I don’t see a need for injections into my face. Yet. As we age our skin loses its elasticity and begins to change. If these changes effect how you feel about yourself, I don’t see any harm in getting these kinds of treatments as an alternative to major and invasive surgeries like a face lift. However, does a woman of 27, 28 years old really need these treatments? This is what concerns me.
It’s the thought process behind it that’s the real problem. It is deeply disturbing to me that a young woman, not even 30, really does believe that she has an expiration date.
It’s my belief that if something makes you feel better about yourself you should do it. However not to an unhealthy degree. Some women turn to these treatments to blanket deeper issues and insecurities, and no amount of injections or treatments will really ever get them truly happy with how they look or feel. They will always find another thing to “fix” on the never ending road to nonexistent perfection. Fillers, botox, eyebrow lifts… and then what? When is it too much? Where does one draw the line?
I often find that women who start with these treatments early actually end up looking like they are aging at a more rapid pace… counterproductive. If you take care of your skin you shouldn’t need treatments like this so young. Additionally, there are preventative topical products and treatments that will work wonders for someone whose skin is still young enough to generate it’s own collagen.
One I have tried personally is the Photofacial. Aging skin is really just showing the effects of sun damage. Free radicals, pollutants, toxins, and rays from the sun do more damage than you might think. They cause inconsistency in pore size, texture, elasticity, and tone. The Photofacial uses pulsating light which causes collagen and blood vessels below the epidermis to constrict, reducing redness and age lines and dramatically reduces the effects of sun damage. Treatments like this are non-invasive and do not morph the features that make you uniquely beautiful.
I don’t think it’s so much what we do as what we think. Are you looking to avoid “expiring” as a woman? Or do you want to present the very best you that you can? Are you treating whatever it is that is causing you to age? Or are you looking for a quick fix and merely slapping a band aid on the problem? Are you doing these things to feel better about yourself or to buy into societal pressures to be “young” (or at least young looking).
Turning from a girl into woman is a beautiful thing. We earn the character that takes residence on our faces. We should embrace our womanly curves. We do NOT have an expiration date. Learning to embrace the inevitable changes as we mature will prevent you from chasing forever how you looked when you were 21. It will keep you feeling naturally confident and allows you to accept and love yourself as you are. No matter how old you are. Grow old gracefully. If you feel beautiful that will radiate from you.
Moreover, if you do opt to get these treatments you should be confident about that choice as well. If you feel the need to lie about something, massage the truth or use “legalese”, you are probably not feeling confident in that choice. If this is a matter you want to keep private, I respect that. So then keep it private. I wouldn’t recommend publicly denying you’ve had something done and then allowing yourself to be featured in a documentary that puts your lies… on blast.
That’s what I think. What do you have to say about it?
May 24th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
She’s just a dumb, dumb girl. Women are their hottest and most beautiful in their 40s. I am 44 myself and get more compliments about my looks now than I ever have in my life, and get more male attention as well.
Dumbarse.
May 24th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I don’t know if you have a “suggestions” area for your site, I couldn’t fine one so I hope you don’t mind if I post a suggestion here. Actually I hope you don’t mind that I’m posting a suggestion period. I don’t think you’ve asked for any,hopefully you don’t mind.
I think it would be helpful if you had a “what’s new” section or something like that on your home page that would link to both recent comments and new content. Your site has several sections and it’s kind of pain to check around to see if there’s new stuff on the different sections of the message board, comments of different posts, comments on different videos, etc.
If you had a recent stuff section people could quickly scan it and see what content and commnts were added since they last looked at the site and then just go to the parts that interested them.
Maybe you already have something like this and I missed seeing it. Anyway it’s just a suggestion. If you don’t like it or don’t want suggestions I totally understand and just ignore this.
May 25th, 2009 at 10:56 am
i told someone that ths person said “as a women i know i have an experation date” and they said “well, whoever said that is someone who has a very low self esteem”
NAIL.ON.HEAD.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:34 am
To the reader who offered the suggestions above:
Please always feel free to offer your suggestions! It will always be considered. The most recent blog posts will always appear at the top of the “On Blast” area to the right of the videos on the main page. The most recent video posts will be the first you see on the page. I will be rotating featured posts that appear at the top as well. You can view the latest comments when you click on “Blog”, or any of the blog subsections, within the drop down menu in a widget on the right side of the page. Most recent posts will be at the top.
You can always leave suggestions here on the page or in the message boards in the collective! Thank you so much for your input.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:15 am
I would have to say that when your vagina is green you are past your expiration date. Like, way, way past it. In fact, you might need to call those bitches from “How Clean Is Your House” in to take of that shit.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I hope you don’t mind me asking, and i sincerely don’t mean to offend but have you not had injections? I am a woman in my early 30’s and I occasionally have botox/restylane injections, so coming from someone that has done it several times I am almost positive you have also from viewing you lifeonblast videos (which I love BTW). Your forehead just just not move at all when you smile largely or even scowl. I’m sorry I am just very curious why deceive (there’s nothing wrong with it) considering you mentioned you didn’t feel the need to inject your face.
May 26th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Show me a person with a sense of humor, quick wit, intelligence, openness, a healthy self-image and a willingness to engage in honest dialog and I’ll show you a beautiful person…and it has nothing to do with anything a plastic surgeon can even touch.
May 26th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I think someone at the age of 27 or 28 has ZERO business getting injections in their face. It’s just insecurity about deeper issues. It’s obvious that Miss JA was practically getting a contact high off of receiving a procedure for free that all the moneyed 2nd and 3rd wives of the UES have to pay for. I think it completely sends the wrong message. If this supposed “drug and alcohol-free feminist health freak” really was the real deal, she would have taken care of her skin by sleeping, eating right, abstaining from alcohol, wearing sunscreen, exercising and actually washing her face.
I’m 23 years old and I would be way too afraid to have a giant syringe plunged into my face at this age. I don’t feel that I need to “prevent” anything. I just take care of myself. It’s common sense. I wish this bobblehead would get this through her head. If anything, she needs a personality injection. The girl has zippo. She wouldn’t have an “expiration date” if her brain actually worked. It’s a disgusting statement to make and is pretty indicative of what Julia thinks of herself.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I was taught that if you take preventative measures (sunscreen, topical treatments) and take care of your skin as you should by avoiding excessive tanning, there will be no need for invasive procedures. Of course, genetics play a large role in how your skin ages, but that’s what bodies do. We age. Europe has it right; the older the grape, the finer the wine. I think America has a distorted view on aging in general. Ballerinas, actresses, politicians – notice how the younger they are, the more “marketable” they are for the the public, who eat it all up. Ballerinas are DONE when they hit 24 (look at the retirement ages) and actresses are skewered a mere month after bearing a CHILD because they still have tummy baby fat. This is just ludicrous. And we are not off the hook, ladies, a lot of us buy into similar ideas, too. We feel guilty for not being a size 2 and hate on our laugh lines instead of thinking about what being a size 8 and laugh lines mean: perhaps we’re just happy, so we eat and laugh a lot? I have to remind myself of this often. Like, daily.
As far as Julia Allison is concerned, there are deeper issues going on there. The fact that she would admit that she wants nothing in life except to be famous, that she dodges honest questions by staying within technical terms, and that she bases her entire value as a woman on MEN is disgusting. How has she lived this long without someone who cares about her enough to sit her down and tell her enough with this BS? I wish her mother would start being a mother. Does she not see the spiral downward? Moms should best friends with their children first. Moms should be moms first. She is seriously lacking in female role models and the ability to synthesize constructive (and not so constructive, sometimes) criticism. At this point, I feel sorry for her because she’ll never enjoy life. She is terminally unhappy hiding behind this shroud of OH-SO-MANIC-HAPPY. Except she isn’t fooling anyone anymore. I’m constantly embarrassed for her.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:39 am
*Moms should NOT be best friends with their children first.
That is what I meant above.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Cee, you raise some really good points. Especially regarding how we perceive aging in our society. I have felt more beautiful with each passing year, not less. Which only illustrates how what we feel inside is what shows outside.
Thank you so much for leaving this comment!
May 29th, 2009 at 11:53 am
@JustWonderingATL (who is actually the same person who called themselves “Sahar” and who is actually NOT in “ATL”, but Chicago… now WHO is from Chicago again? Hmmm….
Check it:
http://alanajoy.tumblr.com/post/114952943/commenter-drama-rama-bitching-about-botox-lets
May 29th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Hi. I’m not julia allison, sorry. just someone that saw you were lying and watched this video over a month ago (http://www.vimeo.com/3795613) and all your scowling and fake crying, over swollen lips and exaggerated facial expressions and then how minimal your face movements were. lucky for you botox injections fade quickly and money is necessary to keep up with them so you could make a joke and cover for your hypocrisy.
nothing is wrong with getting injections if that is what you feel you should do, but to lie about it and then diss someone else for doing it just seems pretty wrong. like I said I didn’t mean to offend. Also I’m not sure who this Sahar is but I’m not her either. I am very sorry to disappoint. Maybe you should check your analytics. IP addresses change often, and are not reliable.
May 29th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Oh bitch get a life. You sit here and say you know I’m lying? You KNOW I’m lying? Oh please. Why are you fixating on this? Don’t hate just because you already need it and I don’t. Seriously. I would be happy to say so if I did. You have problems.
And also, both user names had the same EXACT IP. I can post screen shots if you are that delusional. Now your IP is different but : STILL IN CHICAGO! Not ATL, poser anon-coward.
Bottom line is, you are lying about your name, your location… and who knows what else… and you are an anon commenter, not one who has registered with real information. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: if you can’t speak AS YOURSELF without using 2 different names and lying about who you are and where you are from: then STFU because ANYONE can hide behind a computer screen being a hot mess and talk down to others who aren’t afraid to stand behind who they are.
So as of now, you can refer to my Anon policy. You can also kiss my ass. Having a website doesn’t mean I owe you a damn thing. You don’t advertise here, you haven’t been somehow attacked by me. I haven’t done ANYTHING unethical on this site, and I am the most up front legit girl you will ever meet. Believe me or don’t. This is OVER, love. Let it go.
Oh and Botox lasts 6 months to a year. So if I had no motion A MONTH AGO I think I’d still have no motion now. Feel free to revisit my videos. Feed your obsession. It’s funny, actually.
Bye!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I don’t think women expire in any way. I would be more concerned about if their are any possible health risks with these treatments more then anything else. We all need things to feel like we are comfortable in our skin like i admit it ever since i tried deja-vu items i have wanting to find products that make my skin softer cause i just like how that feels. so if you do want to get the injections okay it may help you and all but also you do need to also look in yourself before and after the treatments and be happy with the person who is staring back at you. You need to have confidence in your self and others will see that in you no matter what your looks are.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Hello,
I have already seen it somethere…
Have a nice day
July 11th, 2009 at 10:25 am
As a Europian I find this typically American. In Europe there is less focus on aging than in America. It’s not that big of a deal. A friend of mine made a documentary about the anti-aging industry in America. She went to a plastic surgeon in LA, to ask him what he thought about her body. Did she need plastic surgery? He instantly made her feel ugly, because he just laughed and said to her; ‘ My dear woman, you need the full works ‘ (she didn’t really supected this remark). She has an inferiority complex now, because of this asshole! Her husband has to tell her repeatedly that she is beautiful. Personally I don’t give a fuck about aging. It happens to everybody, but you should only do plastic surgery for yourself and not for anybody else. It can give some people self esteem (for awhile), but what they don’t understand is that self esteem is more atractive than looks. Sure the right look helps, but if you’re truly comfortable in your skin, that is what’s atractive.