Looks and preferences
What do we consider “looks and preferences”? The definition for this topic;
Looks; all externally visible display of a person and personality by its way of dressing and physical expressions.
Preferences: personal choices connected with interpersonal relationships, looks, culture, expression and all other display of personal choices and wishes.
Every person is shaped by external influences. The individual is a reflection of its environment for at least 50 – 80%. Free choice and free will are limited to a small 50 – 20 % of all activities. This margin is still high as most people have an even smaller margin than 5 – 10%. They are merely a reflection of society and have limited personal freedom for social recognition. This is considered the norm.
Free will and free choice are rare. Every person takes part and must fit into a specific social/economic group in society. Each group has specific unwritten rules for clothing, behavior, and customs. Within this group rules, there is limited space for free interpretation. This raises an important question: is free will and free choices needed to grow old? The answer to this question is important for many people who have an idealistic vision of society.
Looks are very important in life. The story that pretty, good-looking people have an easier life than others is true. The question is why is this true? Has it been always like that at every level of society?
For a better understanding, it is important to divide the segments between countryside and city as done with other topics before. People in the countryside have different norms and values related to clothing and certain behavior from people in the cities. In cities all over the world control of clothing had a direct correlation with social class and economic status. In the countryside, only the specific people who were calculated to the upper social class did distinguish themselves from the rest of the population by a certain form of isolation. This isolation took place through their way of housing, living, and behavior. Most interesting is the fact that these “better” classes hardly ever did reach an old age in the West. This is contrary with Asia were royal and related classes did so. The indulgence of a luxurious life did harm them.
The most important part of aging in the past was personal and social hygiene. This has not been changed. Lack of proper hygiene is a source of disease which limits the physical resistance of an individual. The knowledge on hygiene (reasons of when, where, why and how) came from the medical discoveries. These discoveries gave the aging process a strong boost. They are partly responsible for a plus 30-year increase of our age.
With an increase in hygiene, the looks and preferences did change. Science brought the bathroom and toilet indoors. A bathroom was introduced and a toilet constructed. People were thought how to take care of themselves. The need of cleaning and maintaining the skin, hair and body odor became apparent. Imagine the people from the past had to use all kind of smelly products to cover the personal body odor but perfumes, as we know, did not exist. In historical stories, we find different mentioning of “hard to bear body smell” in houses, ships, and parties. The mixture of “odors” must have been awful when people of “standing” came together in meetings. To understand the influence of looks and preferences on aging it is good to look at a number of major issues.
Skin: the skin is the border between the environment and internal health. The skin is the first parts that show the signs of aging. All large and medium companies in cosmetics and cosmetic surgeries focus on this as a priority. Sales of skin care products increase year by year. Male and female alike have found the skin as a major issue for the personal reflection of health and beauty. Understanding how to take care of the skin and its functional biochemistry is a need for the professional.
Hygiene has improved the ability to clean the skin of dangerous bacteria and influence of virus among dirt and pollution. To keep the skin in a clean and good condition is a need. People in the past did not see a need nor there was always an opportunity to do it. Cleaning is needed but this is also a danger. Many people “overclean” and mistreat the skin. To keep the skin a healthy barrier one should respect its biological needs and chemistry. Washing with soap too often wipes out the defense system and take away the fatty cover needed to catch intruders.
Treatment of the skin need knowledge and a real “trial and error” approach:
Everyday treatment to take care of the skin is often done following commercial directions. These directions are not always safe. The use of high doses cleaning products damage the natural skin cover and bacterial balance. Hair removal of different parts of the body has become standard. Shaven parts must have extra care as they are sensitive and hair roots easily can get infected causing secondary issues in and under the skin. It is advised to follow next suggestions of care:
Our skin is a complicated and very important organ. It must be treated with care and respect as it is the border barrier with the outside world.
The effect of aging is seen on the skin from a certain age. The beauty industry tries to promote their product to use from the age of 20/21 which is, considered the current knowledge of aging, a very young age. The visual effects of aging can be seen at different ages and individuals but also is different between races and climates. But WHAT are the signs of aging in male and female?