82 and Young

Photo courtesy:  http://every-little-counts.blogspot.in/2012/06/china-machado.html  and   http://tara-tan.com/2012/03/22/china-machado/

When I picked up today's Times Life to read, a usual Sunday morning practice that I relish to do, I was surprised at the variety and insight into some very interesting pieces. Last week there was an interesting article on a practice in the British Raj called 'Fishing Fleets' and this week what got my attention was the article about China (pronounced as Chee-na) Machado, model at the age of 82! Unashamed to show her face wrinkled and old, she poses for the camera just as she would have when she was in her 20s.

One statement that she made caught my eye particularly. She said "In our time, models were proud of the clothes they wore...models these days don't know anything beyond themselves. Maybe that's why they are so insecure and fall prey to vices, surgeries etc. " As soon as I read this I found it true in some sorts. I don't completely agree to the point that women in the previous century were not proud of their beauty(Marilyn Monroe herself an example), however it is true that now whenever I see a fashion show or anything written on it, a lot of importance is given to the model's looks and clothes that accentuate her features rather than a model adding to the beauty of the dress that she is wearing. Now, there has to be a reason why models today have become so narcissistic as compared to previous ones could be attributed to the changing trends of society demanding women to be 'perfect' and selling products by 'looks' rather than using it to promote the product. When I say this, I am reminded of a line from the book 'The Winner Stands Alone' by Paulo Coelho in which Gabriela, an actress, who is almost 25 is horrified because a career in this field would actually start crumbling after 25. What an antithesis would China's life be then to a world that makes a hypocrisy of the proverb 'beauty is not skin deep'.

When you have dozens of creams advertising 'anti-ageing', 'look young', 'anti-wrinkles' for people above the age of 35, one ad even endorsing women in their 20s to start applying to maintain their face, you have China who says that "life is beautiful at any age". I think it all depends on how you view beauty and fashion to be. Whether you dress to impress or dress for yourself, though, when you start getting attention, it's hard to focus on just keeping yourself happy. Oh and don't forget 'beauty pageants' that promote the idea of 'beauty with a cause'. China's won Miss World 2012 and then you have China modeling at 82 in 2012. Oh the irony.