It's pretty safe to say that our society values youth as much as it values beauty. Oftentimes, it's to the point where youth is beauty, and to be old is synonymous with being ugly.
Of course this isn't (and shouldn't be) the case. Aging means that you've lived life, and there's nothing ugly about that! Unfortunately, not everyone's on the same page there.
After posting a bikini photo, 57-year-old former model Paulina Prizkova got insulted by an internet troll for, well, posting a bikini photo.
Responding on both Instagram and Twitter, Porizkova posted her bikini photo alongside the troll's comments, showing just how unnecessarily ageist and sexist this person had the audacity to be.
On Instagram, she writes, "A woman of 57 is “too old” to pose in a bikini - no matter what she looks like. Because 'Old' is 'Ugly'. I get comments like these every time I post a photo of my body. This is the ageist shaming that sets my teeth on edge."
"...Beauty can be sharp. It can wound you and leave a scar. To perceive beauty you have to be able to SEE. This is why I believe we get more beautiful with age."
"We have earned our beauty, we understand what it is, and we can see it so much better. There is no such thing as ugly and old. Only shortsighted and ignorant."
Women, in particular, are oftentimes shamed for getting older. The second you find a new wrinkle, or pluck out a gray hair, you begin to become "less beautiful" in the eyes of a society that's obsessed with youth.
Porizkova really inspired a lot of women out there to show off the "pain and suffering" the troll thinks older people have.
In fact, they don't look like they're suffering at all! But I guess it just goes to show that beauty really is a matter of perspective, and being beautiful doesn't have to be synonymous with being young.
While women are often the targets of ageism and body shaming, it happens to men all the time, too. It's equally as nice to see men embrace their age!
Getting older is an inevitable part of life, and that's perfectly okay! What isn't okay is making people feel bad for "aging wrong," or aging at all, really.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
