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DEL.ICIO.USAesthetic Anthropology & the Botox Revolution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
msnbc.com
Botox user?
Americans are a little obsessed with wrinkles according to a study commissioned by Allergan, makers of the injectable fillers Botox Cosmetic and Juvederm.
More than half of us want to get rid of all the wrinkles on our faces, compared to only 35 percent of French women.
Last week, Atlanta’s own Sander L.Gilman, a professor at Emory University, who served as a consultant for the Aesthetic Anthropology Survey of Beauty & Grooming Trends Across Cultures, presented the study findings in New York. Here he offers some insights on cultural differences in beauty:
“In Europe, there is an assumption that it is okay to look 60 as long as 60 isn’t staring back at you and screaming, ‘You’re collapsing!’” said Gilman. In the U.S. it has almost always been more important to look youthful, even artificially, he said.
Of course, the Botox revolution of the ‘90s has started to change those attitudes. “We’ve gone from thinking about aging as something that is a slippery slope to death, to thinking about aging as a state in one’s life that is connected to being healthy and vital,” Gilman said.
Here are some other interesting tidbits from the study:
Use of Botox cosmetic injectibles has increased 400% since 2001.
More European women compared to U.S. women report looking younger than their age.
Italy is the only country in which soap and water is not a popular facial cleanser (no word on what they use.)
Italian men have the highest monthly spend on grooming products, while U.S. men have the lowest.
What do you think of the study findings? Are Americans too hung up on looking young?
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