Baby Boomer Vanity – Where Will it Lead Us?

Baby Boomer Vanity – Where Will it Lead Us?

Baby boomers continue to attract criticism in their advancing years.  In the maelstrom of  ‘boomer controversy’ in the fifties, sixties and seventies of the last Century, baby boomers were attacked for their promiscuity; their blatant disregard of rules, regulations and traditions and worst of all for their sheer audacity when it came to refusing to do doing things the way they had always been done.  When boomers decided they no longer liked society’s values, they set out to change them.  And change them they certainly did!

In the bad old days (in other words before plastic) things were a little different.  New mothers struggled with heaving metal buckets of soaking diapers because there was no alternative to getting terry towelling clean and sterile – baby boomers had not yet invented disposable diapers.  The wonder of synthetics had not yet changed the World, so every housewife’s daily routine included armfuls of washing and pressing of family clothing – not to mention an ongoing battle with pure cotton bed linen to be boiled, starched and pressed before it was deemed fit for use.

Women particularly were victims of agricultural facilities.  Most men in the pre boomer age enjoyed the status of ‘lord and master’ and favored conventional family roles where they very much ruled the roost; rarely helping with household chores; usually making all decisions of a financial nature for good or ill; sometimes availing themselves of a social life separate to family life, found in sporting and drinking clubs.

In addition to the inconvenience of daily chores, many ladies were compelled to stay within the strict perimeters of local prejudice.  A respectable widow, even if she was still relatively young, would not dream of casual dating and risk triggering gossip and scandal.  Dressing in racy fashions was definitely out of the question!  As she got older, her skin wrinkled and her teeth and gums began to weaken: she accepted her toothless and wrinkly future quietly and made the best of things, choosing to cover the wrinkles with thick, unsightly make up resembling filler and thinly veiling her ill fitting dentures with a watery smile…

The general aura of practicality surrounding society in pre boomer days would hardly encourage vanity.  Newspaper promotion vaguely endorsed the importance of ladies keeping their figures through heavy corseting right up to the fifties but few cosmetic enhancements were available, apart from standard face paint widely frowned upon.  Men were invited to keep their beards well trimmed and reminded that real men smoked the right brand of cigar or cigarette but were otherwise left to age graciously!

Baby boomer technology changed everything forever

Yet by the closing years of the last Century, it was possible completely transform one’s appearance and scrape away the years as much as one wished, provided there were sufficient funds to cover the treatments.  Plastic and sillicone technology brought revolutionary medical corrective surgery.  Combined with a determination to stay young, almost anything became possible for a baby boomer on a mission to live forever…

Any why not?  Why should the World object on the one hand to the baby boomer vanities that brought physical enhancement to the modern World and yet on the other hand have the temerity to avail itself of the technological and surgical facilities now available courtesy of boomer skills, talents and resources?

In the twenties and thirties of the last Century a man with a toothache could either put up with it or undergo an extraction.  By the time he reached his late fifties, he would be most fortunate to have sufficient healthy teeth left to chew!  Nowadays, it is extremely rare for a fifty, sixty and sometimes seventy year old to wear false teeth. Early orthodontry pulls and pushes teeth and gums into shape and modern dental methods strengthen gum and bone sufficiently to ensure our teeth outlive us.  No more plates; no more embarrassment…

Research changed that: boomers changed that.

Along with the ability to perform cosmetic surgery, new morals surfaced to accompany physical enhancement.  The World talked itself into believing breast lifts were perfectly acceptable, along with hair transplants; nose jobs; tummy tucks and less invasive treatments such as eyelash dyeing; hair tinting; skin peels.

Baby boomer vanity is one of the biggest single money spinners in the history of marketing and the reason is obvious: boomers have money.

Baby boomer morals have always been slightly flawed where the rest of the World was concerned but their ability to ‘fix stuff’ has always been legendary.  Who on earth would tolerate being fat, bald and toothless if they could be slim, fit, with a perfect flashing smile and a full head of hair?  Who?  Broke people - that’s who!

It takes money.  And money, unfortunately, is a commodity the average Joe does not have.  The result is resentment of boomers and their ability to have exactly what they want whenever they want it.

As we lurch into a new Century, modern science embroiders on boomer achievements to improve on existing treatments in an effort to make them not only better but also cheaper and therefore more accessible for those with fewer financial resources.

So don’t worry - by 2050, we will ALL be gorgeous!