Grandma gets breast implants and all hell breaks loose
Sep 13, 2011 Posted by Martha Drezin
Appearances, which are an artificial, superficial, shallow manifestation of a person, count!
I grew up in the shadow of a glamorous aunt, bedazzled by her suburban home with live-in maid, chauffeur, boxed chocolates and pastel-colored Nat Sherman cigarettes. When I was 16 I inherited her walking suits, cashmere sweaters, chiffon scarves and long-line bras. I enjoyed the finery, but I was led to believe that my aunt had the wrong values; she was a “bleached blonde.” Her hair was stripped mummy-white and then glazed with an ash-gold veneer and teased into a cotton candy halo. There was only one Marilyn Monroe but my Aunt Fay gave her a run for her money.
In the 60’s a bleached blonde wore an ermine stole and a reputation: shallowness, borderline illiteracy, sexual availability, materialism and gold digging. She was a poster girl for the excesses of modern vanity, just like Marie Kolstad is today. Marie Kolstad is an 83-year-old widow who underwent a three-hour breast lift with implants, starting a media feeding frenzy. Since the New York Times ran the article, “Golden Years, Polished With Surgery,” Kolstad has been alternately pilloried and admired.
Yesterday’s bleached blonde engendered the same confused emotions as Kolstad. She is criticized for looking unnatural, having misplaced values and a frivolous nature. At the same time we are attracted by her piss and vinegar and vicariously enjoy her zest for life.
Kolstad’s comment, “I want my children to be proud of what I look like,” set off a tempest among indignant readers who demand that their children should love them for what they are, meaning every wrinkle and age spot. Granted, your mother loves you no matter what, but she is thrilled if you’re a beauty and she can bask in the glow of admiration surrounding you.
Likewise, when your middle-aged children are making your 80th birthday party, they want you to look fit and stunning. Your appearance as a grandmother is a harbinger of what they’re going to look like. Quite simply, appearances, which are an artificial, superficial, shallow manifestation of a person, count!
How did it happen that the occasion of an 83-year-old widow undergoing a breast lift pushed plastic surgery into the arena of moral judgment? Kolstad’s surgery, dissected by local, national and international news outlets, has become a staple around the water cooler. If plastic surgery is simply an aesthetic choice, like buying a dress, why would an article highlighting the increase of plastic surgery among older people engender controversy?
Answer: The Americans described in this article who have undergone plastic surgery have an even worse stigma than being politically incorrect; they’re old! According to the New York Times, “Ms. Kolstad is one of many septuagenarians, octogenarians and even nonagenarians who are burnishing their golden years with help from the plastic surgeon. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2010 there were 84,685 surgical procedures among patients age 65 and older. They included 26,635 face-lifts; 24,783 cosmetic eyelid operations; 6,469 liposuctions; 5,874 breast reductions; 3,875 forehead lifts; 3,339 breast lifts and 2,414 breast augmentations.”
Of course there are valid safety concerns related to invasive elective surgery in older patients, especially procedures that require general anesthesia. A report published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in June 2011 found that the hazards in people over age 65 are no greater than in the younger population. The key to safe plastic surgery is not chronological age, but medical health. For surgery at any age, the surgeon you choose should be board-certified in plastic surgery by the American Board of Medical Specialties and should require medical clearance from your internist.
Beyond safety, what is the real fuss about seniors going under the knife? Nancy Etcoff, assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, hits the nail on the head. “Part of our stereotype of old people is that they are social, warm and likable, but powerless and sexless. Here we are in the age of Viagra, but suddenly the idea of older people, mostly women, wanting to be sexually attractive at that age makes us uncomfortable.”
Kolstad created a tempest for two reasons: (1) plastic surgery is considered politically incorrect in certain circles; (2) we live in an ageist society.
A couple of months ago there was a lot of press about the rise in STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) passed around in nursing homes. Like breast implants in seniors, this news made a lot of people cringe or, even worse, laugh. Sexual activity among people of a certain age is alive, well and increasing with use of Viagra-like elixirs. I regret to inform you that your grandma, comfortably ensconced in an assisted living to pursue her knitting endeavors, may be getting it on with the guy in the next room. But given male longevity, there may be heavy competition for his favors. Therefore, she may need breast implants to tip the scales in her favor. Grandma is entitled to have sex and old enough to give informed consent for breast implants; you don’t need to protect her against herself. Give Grandma a break; bring her a bottle of Chanel No. 5, not the scarlet letter to wear around her neck. She deserves some pleasure.
I grew up in the shadow of a glamorous aunt, bedazzled by her suburban home with live-in maid, chauffeur, boxed chocolates and pastel-colored Nat Sherman cigarettes. When I was 16 I inherited her walking suits, cashmere sweaters, chiffon scarves and long-line bras. I enjoyed the finery, but I was led to believe that my aunt had the wrong values; she was a “bleached blonde.” Her hair was stripped mummy-white and then glazed with an ash-gold veneer and teased into a cotton candy halo. There was only one Marilyn Monroe but my Aunt Fay gave her a run for her money.
In the 60’s a bleached blonde wore an ermine stole and a reputation: shallowness, borderline illiteracy, sexual availability, materialism and gold digging. She was a poster girl for the excesses of modern vanity, just like Marie Kolstad is today. Marie Kolstad is an 83-year-old widow who underwent a three-hour breast lift with implants, starting a media feeding frenzy. Since the New York Times ran the article, “Golden Years, Polished With Surgery,” Kolstad has been alternately pilloried and admired.
Yesterday’s bleached blonde engendered the same confused emotions as Kolstad. She is criticized for looking unnatural, having misplaced values and a frivolous nature. At the same time we are attracted by her piss and vinegar and vicariously enjoy her zest for life.
Kolstad’s comment, “I want my children to be proud of what I look like,” set off a tempest among indignant readers who demand that their children should love them for what they are, meaning every wrinkle and age spot. Granted, your mother loves you no matter what, but she is thrilled if you’re a beauty and she can bask in the glow of admiration surrounding you.
Likewise, when your middle-aged children are making your 80th birthday party, they want you to look fit and stunning. Your appearance as a grandmother is a harbinger of what they’re going to look like. Quite simply, appearances, which are an artificial, superficial, shallow manifestation of a person, count!
How did it happen that the occasion of an 83-year-old widow undergoing a breast lift pushed plastic surgery into the arena of moral judgment? Kolstad’s surgery, dissected by local, national and international news outlets, has become a staple around the water cooler. If plastic surgery is simply an aesthetic choice, like buying a dress, why would an article highlighting the increase of plastic surgery among older people engender controversy?
Answer: The Americans described in this article who have undergone plastic surgery have an even worse stigma than being politically incorrect; they’re old! According to the New York Times, “Ms. Kolstad is one of many septuagenarians, octogenarians and even nonagenarians who are burnishing their golden years with help from the plastic surgeon. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2010 there were 84,685 surgical procedures among patients age 65 and older. They included 26,635 face-lifts; 24,783 cosmetic eyelid operations; 6,469 liposuctions; 5,874 breast reductions; 3,875 forehead lifts; 3,339 breast lifts and 2,414 breast augmentations.”
Of course there are valid safety concerns related to invasive elective surgery in older patients, especially procedures that require general anesthesia. A report published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in June 2011 found that the hazards in people over age 65 are no greater than in the younger population. The key to safe plastic surgery is not chronological age, but medical health. For surgery at any age, the surgeon you choose should be board-certified in plastic surgery by the American Board of Medical Specialties and should require medical clearance from your internist.
Beyond safety, what is the real fuss about seniors going under the knife? Nancy Etcoff, assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, hits the nail on the head. “Part of our stereotype of old people is that they are social, warm and likable, but powerless and sexless. Here we are in the age of Viagra, but suddenly the idea of older people, mostly women, wanting to be sexually attractive at that age makes us uncomfortable.”
Kolstad created a tempest for two reasons: (1) plastic surgery is considered politically incorrect in certain circles; (2) we live in an ageist society.
A couple of months ago there was a lot of press about the rise in STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) passed around in nursing homes. Like breast implants in seniors, this news made a lot of people cringe or, even worse, laugh. Sexual activity among people of a certain age is alive, well and increasing with use of Viagra-like elixirs. I regret to inform you that your grandma, comfortably ensconced in an assisted living to pursue her knitting endeavors, may be getting it on with the guy in the next room. But given male longevity, there may be heavy competition for his favors. Therefore, she may need breast implants to tip the scales in her favor. Grandma is entitled to have sex and old enough to give informed consent for breast implants; you don’t need to protect her against herself. Give Grandma a break; bring her a bottle of Chanel No. 5, not the scarlet letter to wear around her neck. She deserves some pleasure.