I think the only thing missing from this discussion is that the desire to be perceived as youthful is fairly new, or at least its complete dominance is. For a long time, if you wanted to be take seriously in society, you needed to look like an adult. I’ve read that this change began post WWII, but I’m guessing probably didn’t fully take over the way we’re seeing it until the 90s. So it may be that older generations looked older on purpose, and not just because they weren’t caring for their skin like we do.
A fun exercise to have the opposite experience is to find a photo from the 1800's or early 1900's of a bunch of men with moustaches and big beards and top hats etc. And then zoom in really close on their face: many of them have total baby faces, hiding behind their facial hair and hats.
I agree with your final note in the episode that we often think we look younger than we actually do. And I also think that many of us just aren't in touch with what people in high school actually look like now, or looked like then, etc. (I have a baby face and had virtually zero facial in high school, whereas a few of my classmates had beards in grade 9.) I have a friend who has always looked like he's in late 40's, even though he was 26 when I met him.
Also, looking young at 33 isn't evidence that you can continue to not wear SPF. It catches up with you when you get to 50+ so... stop fooling yourself. :)
I think the only thing missing from this discussion is that the desire to be perceived as youthful is fairly new, or at least its complete dominance is. For a long time, if you wanted to be take seriously in society, you needed to look like an adult. I’ve read that this change began post WWII, but I’m guessing probably didn’t fully take over the way we’re seeing it until the 90s. So it may be that older generations looked older on purpose, and not just because they weren’t caring for their skin like we do.
A fun exercise to have the opposite experience is to find a photo from the 1800's or early 1900's of a bunch of men with moustaches and big beards and top hats etc. And then zoom in really close on their face: many of them have total baby faces, hiding behind their facial hair and hats.
I agree with your final note in the episode that we often think we look younger than we actually do. And I also think that many of us just aren't in touch with what people in high school actually look like now, or looked like then, etc. (I have a baby face and had virtually zero facial in high school, whereas a few of my classmates had beards in grade 9.) I have a friend who has always looked like he's in late 40's, even though he was 26 when I met him.
Also, looking young at 33 isn't evidence that you can continue to not wear SPF. It catches up with you when you get to 50+ so... stop fooling yourself. :)
Definitely a good point on the value of looking older or younger! For sure pros and cons to both