Now that I am a woman of a “certain” age, I’m starting to notice a few things. Like how little notice menopause is given in our society. Like how little notice post-menopausal women are given in society.
A Dove campaign interviewed over 1,700 women between the ages of 18 and 64 recently about beauty and how they think of themselves and about the importance of being “real.”
Well, we know the Dove beauty campaign is all about selling us stuff. I mean, hel-lo….they’ve got shareholders.
Apparently they’ve been so successful that it isn’t enough to be a size zero any more. Now we have to embrace our freckles and our size 4 thighs and we have to be real. We do that by buying soap. Unless you are over 65.
If you’re over 65 I guess you don’t need soap anymore.
I know that 18-64 is a marketing demographic, but it’s more than that at the same time. It’s about how society views youth and beauty (or age and the lack of it).
Maybe it’s because we don’t talk about menopause amongst ourselves very much. Oh sure, we joke about hot flashes and night sweats. And losing the ability to string two thoughts together and forgetting just why we came into the kitchen just now and bemoaning our newly acquired pot bellies. Funny stuff. Jokey stuff.
What about…am I still pretty? Am I still desirable? Do I have a voice? (And no, I’m not fishing for compliments). What about menopausal depression and debilitating mood swings. What about vaginal atrophy. Have you heard about that one? ( It’s what Premerin is for, in case you were wondering.)
Females are young. And fertile. One day you’re a child. The next day – the next second – you’re a woman. I remember thinking the day I got my first period, “I’m a woman now. I can have babies!” So it seems only natural to ask the reverse question when you stop having your monthly flow. After menopause, who are we? We’re female, but are we still women? Yes, of course we are, don’t be silly.
Many post menopausal women will say that we’re more than women. We’re women with huzzah! We’re women who don’t need soap!
Right?
I’m not so sure. Okay, okay…I hear you. I don’t particularly want to be targeted in a mass-market beauty products campaign either.
But it would be nice to be noticed.
I do have something to say. My voice is important (or should be, anyway.) Maybe I don’t want the kind of soap Dove is trying to sell my younger sisters, but I buy soap, too.
I know there’s a point in here somewhere, but I’ve forgotten where I put it…
I’m participating in the Blogging From A-Z challenge. One blog post for each letter of the alphabet, each day of April (except Sunday).