Botox on my Toronto walk home – FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE

I’m not against all things beauty enhancing. Obviously.

I try very hard to be a You Do You person. Things that bring you joy, bring you joy. They don’t have to affect me.

I don’t abstain entirely from beauty rituals myself. I still get colour highlights to brighten up my gray hair. I look forward to the day when it’s bright and white like my mother’s. For now, I’m brightening it at the salon every couple of months.

But something about cosmetic surgery makes me queasy, aside from the obvious– needles in one’s face. I don’t like how the widespread use of it literally erases women’s aging. It also makes it harder to opt out.

I’m a hardcore resister in this area. I don’t have a facial routine. I wash my face, yes, and I use moisturizer and sunscreen, but that’s it. I barely wear makeup. I have younger women friends. They are going all in on this stuff. They seem to be starting earlier and earlier. It seems harder to resist the next thing once you do one thing. I think going to a place to get Botox means you’re likely to be upsold on the next thing. Also once you fix one thing, other areas of deficiency are more noticeable. I think it’s easier to resist the lot of it, than the next step once you’ve started.

Remember our abstain or moderate conversations? Different subject, but I suspect, for me, abstaining is easier.

Anyway, anyway,. It’s complicated, I know. Mostly I don’t think much about my aging face. I saw a dermatologist a few years ago about spots on my face. She was thrilled to announce that they’re not cancer. I just seem to be good at growing age spots. Okay fine.

Why am I even writing about this?

My walk home in Toronto on research leave makes it harder to ignore. I love that with my new knees I can walk miles and miles. I love walking in big cities, but the downside of urban walking through our gentrifying neighbourhood?

So much storefront normative femininity. So many studios all devoted to producing and maintaining certain kinds of feminine bodies. Waxing, fillers, nails, extensions, blow outs, eyebrow bars….it feels endless. And then there’s the pilates and yoga and spin studios.

And yes the Botox ads.