Face or figure?

The question of “After 40, it’s your face or your figure,” wouldn’t be raised in Italy because the body counts more than the face, period. High fashion designers in this country produce their pret-a-porter collections for sizes 40-46, the rough equivalent of U.S. 6-12. “They want you as their customer only if you fit into these sizes,” an Italian psychologist friend of mine noted drily. Lucia has the money to buy Armani or Versace but her body does not meet their requisites. Lucia also pointed out to me that in body-obsessed Brazil, shopkeepers are obliged to display sizes 14-16 as a way of combating anorexia. “Anorexia is the only psychological problem directly related to social expectations,” she commented.

Baby boomer blues

Facelifts have become a status symbol for women in our generation, according to Angela. Angela is an American friend of mine who is exactly my age (at the prime of baby boomerdom). At our age, you either start looking at the mirror with analytic alarm or you start avoiding the mirror. I’d been doing the latter ever since I hit 50. But growing numbers of my fellow baby boomers have not opted for the ostrich defense.

More than a million lifts are performed in the U.S. alone each year, and the number has been growing annually, thanks to women -- and a small percentage of men -- around my age who have more money and more medical options than any previous generation. Angela went on to say, "But unless you are disfigured as the result of an accident, fire, etc., or have a job where looking youthful is essential (e.g., news media people), I don't see the point."

Maybe I'll feel differently once I start to wrinkle, but I doubt it. My appearance is not that important to me. I should point out that Angela had a round, kewpie-doll adorable face as a young woman, and she still has a round, wrinkle-free face in middle age. Great skin and a plump facial structure help, of course.