Picturing Middle Age

Patricia Cohen, in her March 8, 2009 New York Times article, Middle Age, Before It Came Out of a Bottle, writes

"By 50, the average person's hair is about half-gray...Advertisements did whatever they could to promote the notion that aging was unwelcome and gray hair its stigmata.

But take a look at the torrent of images from movies, television, magazines and advertisements that help to shape or create our expectations and views about how people should look. Aside from the Botox, Restylane, nips, tucks and suctioning that Hollywood stars and extras regularly endure, the absence of gray in nearly everyone under 65 reinforces the impression that midlife is supposed to be free of gray."

Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/weekinreview/08cohen.html?_r=1

Patricia Cohen is writing a book about the invention and marketing of middle age.