According to 41-year-old Jenni Rotosen, aging is too negative about aging. He is worried about how beauty ideals change in the near future and how common aesthetic beauty treatments are.
Do we want a world where the beauty ideals of women, in particular, become narrower?
This question is influenced by an influencer Jenni Rotonen says he has been pondering lately. He has followed the prevalence of aesthetic measures with concern. Aesthetic measures refer to appearance treatments such as botulinum and filler stitches.
According to Rotosen, the proliferation of measures will inevitably affect what is considered normal and what expectations are set for appearance and aging. In this context, he speaks of treatments made for appearance and not for medical reasons.
– Everyone has to think about what feels right. At the same time, I wish people would be more aware of what kind of world we all create and normalize with our own choices, says Rotonen.
Popularity in growth
The popularity of aesthetic treatments has grown both in Finland and around the world.
Rotonen thinks that the phenomenon may have some influence on what kind of bubble each lives. However, through social media, the phenomenon is accessible to everyone. Some have also expanded the social district that compare themselves with others. Feeling that you need or want aesthetic treatments will not be created in a vacuum.
For influencers followed by Rotos, the situation is beginning to be that most of them have taken some aesthetic measures.
– But I myself have noticed that in Helsinki, for example, the phenomenon is no longer just social media, but everywhere. Welfare is reflected in the street scene.
At the same time, aesthetic measures have also gradually spread to somebody marketing and more and more influencers are promoting them either for free treatments or for financial compensation.
– It is not completely problematic for me either. I bet that quite a few would find it very contradictory if we saw ads on television, says Rotonen.
– It is clear that when it comes to how advertising the measures has suddenly exploded this spring in Finnish somme, this is not at least not declining. At some point, it may be necessary to consider whether this requires some regulation.
“Many seem to be anxious”
As the aesthetic measures are becoming more common, Rotonen ponders how easy it is to keep him or others naturally about aging.
Concerns have been confirmed by the feedback he received when he has talked about conflicts in his or her own somet account. Many have been relieved of understanding that they are not alone with their appearance pressures.
– Perhaps the most worrying thing I think is that many people say that soma is adding these pressure. For young people, some has been shown to increase appearance pressures and self-esteem problems, but I am not just talking about young people, but those who have communicated to me are in their thirties, fourths and fifties.
Botox, lipstick and other injection treatments have become commonplace for many. Adobe Stock / AOP
The feedback he received repeats the same formula: many of the following influencers for whom aesthetic measures are commonplace.
– Many seem to be really anxious and say that the proliferation of aesthetic treatments increases the feeling that they are no longer eligible for themselves. Many are also very concerned about the world of their own children. Perhaps that is why people have also expressed great relief for someone to speak out loud and leave publicly from the trend.
In a way, he considers it a good thing that the influencers are openly telling them about the measures taken to them, but at the same time, the open speech normalizes the action and, at worst, adds them to what is possible and perhaps to see more “repair needs” in their appearance.
Talking about the problems of aesthetic measures sometimes seems difficult about Rotos, as she is aware that women’s appearance is criticized – women did whatever. Some also see critical debate as a personal criticism, although Rotonen emphasizes that he is talking about it at the phenomenon.
– This is a terribly delicate and personal subject. Still, I think that in the end it is in everyone’s interest that this phenomenon is also critically considered.
While aesthetic measures can bring joy or confidence to the individual, there are always risks. In addition, they are expensive. In the end, the benefits are the beauty industry, even if you think they are doing them only for themselves, Rotonen says.
The images of aging
In general, talking about aging themes seems important to Rotos. He says they naturally become timely in his life when he turned 40 last year.
He has found that aging is very often talked about from a negative point of view, for example in the media. Particularly in advertising, the appearance has traditionally been talked about by war terms: how to “fight” against signs of aging.
Nowadays, expressions are often more subtle, but the message is still the same: aging should not be visible, and it is sought to be faded and slowed down by all possible means. Other topics related to aging, on the other hand, emphasize the treatment of various diseases.
– Inevitably, it creates the impression that aging is just about illness and being a burden on others, which of course is not true.
Negative images may be reflected in the fact that more and more people are experiencing aging as a frightening thing, says the coordinator of the Central Association of Elderly Work (VTKL) Tarja Siltanen.
A survey commissioned by the union revealed in October last year that young adults, in particular, are afraid of aging. Up to half of the 25-35 year olds reported that they were afraid of old age.
“It is worrying that the number has risen in two years,” says Siltanen of VTKL.
In recent years, Jenni Rotonen himself has stopped to consider how easily certain types of choices and life paths are considered to be default. He is critical of not only the narrow beauty ideals, but also to other internal restrictions that are often associated with age. For example, many people think that at a certain age you cannot start a new hobby or do something that does not meet expectations of their own life.
“Many of the norms have only become visible to myself when I have begun consciously challenging them or stopped to think about what really feels right,” says Rotonen.
Self -study has helped him to be more open about aging, although he admits that he is not completely protected by pressure.
– I try to dispel pressure by challenging myself to what life can look and sound like at different ages. Aging may not seem so scary then. After all, life doesn’t have to change much or it can change in exactly the ways you wish.
Aging, when you often bring good things that you may not have thought of: life experience, mercy for yourself, and the courage to live your own life, ignoring the opinions of others.