Propecia and the culture of beauty
The world has become more unfair over the last two decades. People were always treated differently based on their looks. But now technology has raised the bar and gives people false illusions and reasons to spend their money in the pursuit of the uncatchable. Starting with a simple truth, most people are at their physical peak in their late teens and early twenties. After that, it's all downhill as age creeps on towards the inevitable end. In school and college, there's always been bullying based on appearance. What makes this worst for the modern generations is the arrival of photoshop and the other pieces of software that allow images to be manipulated. For the teens in school, there's the chance to take pictures using cell phones and exaggerate the differences. What appears on Facebook and other social networking sites can be very cruel. In a parallel world, we're surrounded by images of celebrities airbrushed into perfection. Except, that is, for the gossip magazines that pay paparazzi to capture the same celebrities in their off-moments when, horror of horrors, they look just like the rest of humanity with bulging bits of body and wrinkles.
It's probably worst for the women. There are so many jobs that rely on them having perfect looks. It's almost as if they are not allowed to show any sign of aging if they want to keep their jobs or get promoted. That's why there are so many billions at stake in the cosmetics industry for powders and creams to cover up skin problems. When cosmetics fail, there's Botox and cosmetic surgery. What makes all this so alarming are the number of teens who are so unhappy with their bodies, their parents are paying for surgery.
There's more room for men to be less beautiful (according to modern standards). They can forget to shave, even grow a beard, wear old clothes and still manage to be accepted as cool. Except there's one factor that seems to cause problems. Forgetting acne which most manage to leave behind with their teen years, hair loss represents one of the worst things that can happen to any young man. The general view is receding hair makes men look older. The myths say women are less attracted to men with less hair. That's why younger men take to wearing baseball caps and other "hats" to hide the problem. Except, of course, all they do is draw attention to themselves.
Since the solution offered by cosmetic surgeons is not only painful to the pocket and not guaranteed to make any lasting differences, most men refuse hair transplants in favor of Propecia treatment. Whatever its faults, it has the virtues of being cheap to buy, convenient to use and consistently effective in stopping further hair loss. Hardly surprising, then, to find it a high-demand product. Yet, you have to ask exactly what is wrong with men who do bald prematurely. Why has our aesthetic sense become hypnotized by the idea of perfection? Not so long ago, we would all pride ourselves on the little differences that showed us younger or older, more weathered or with the skin of an office guy. Now everyone feels under pressure to take Propecia and try to look exactly the same as everyone else. That's just depressing.
The world has become more unfair over the last two decades. People were always treated differently based on their looks. But now technology has raised the bar and gives people false illusions and reasons to spend their money in the pursuit of the uncatchable. Starting with a simple truth, most people are at their physical peak in their late teens and early twenties. After that, it's all downhill as age creeps on towards the inevitable end. In school and college, there's always been bullying based on appearance. What makes this worst for the modern generations is the arrival of photoshop and the other pieces of software that allow images to be manipulated. For the teens in school, there's the chance to take pictures using cell phones and exaggerate the differences. What appears on Facebook and other social networking sites can be very cruel. In a parallel world, we're surrounded by images of celebrities airbrushed into perfection. Except, that is, for the gossip magazines that pay paparazzi to capture the same celebrities in their off-moments when, horror of horrors, they look just like the rest of humanity with bulging bits of body and wrinkles.
It's probably worst for the women. There are so many jobs that rely on them having perfect looks. It's almost as if they are not allowed to show any sign of aging if they want to keep their jobs or get promoted. That's why there are so many billions at stake in the cosmetics industry for powders and creams to cover up skin problems. When cosmetics fail, there's Botox and cosmetic surgery. What makes all this so alarming are the number of teens who are so unhappy with their bodies, their parents are paying for surgery.
There's more room for men to be less beautiful (according to modern standards). They can forget to shave, even grow a beard, wear old clothes and still manage to be accepted as cool. Except there's one factor that seems to cause problems. Forgetting acne which most manage to leave behind with their teen years, hair loss represents one of the worst things that can happen to any young man. The general view is receding hair makes men look older. The myths say women are less attracted to men with less hair. That's why younger men take to wearing baseball caps and other "hats" to hide the problem. Except, of course, all they do is draw attention to themselves.
Since the solution offered by cosmetic surgeons is not only painful to the pocket and not guaranteed to make any lasting differences, most men refuse hair transplants in favor of Propecia treatment. Whatever its faults, it has the virtues of being cheap to buy, convenient to use and consistently effective in stopping further hair loss. Hardly surprising, then, to find it a high-demand product. Yet, you have to ask exactly what is wrong with men who do bald prematurely. Why has our aesthetic sense become hypnotized by the idea of perfection? Not so long ago, we would all pride ourselves on the little differences that showed us younger or older, more weathered or with the skin of an office guy. Now everyone feels under pressure to take Propecia and try to look exactly the same as everyone else. That's just depressing.
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