Women are told they are only as valuable as they are pretty. It's an everyday, all day, subliminal message from society. And because "looking good" and "being healthy" have so much overlap - it's often difficult to separate the two. And it's often hard to tell if the motivation for that workout is beauty to others, or well-being to yourself? But the skin thing? That's a market created by fancy skincare products, that preys on the programmed impulse to think of ourselves (especially as women) as not being acceptable in our natural state. That youth, beauty, and fuckability are the things we derive our value from.

Loved reading this article, because it was full of honest questions instead of smug certainty! Thanks for writing it!

I wrote a few pieces that might be interesting reads when you consider to WHY we women think we're supposed to do all these anti-aging things. Check it out if you get a chance.

https://medium.com/fearless-she-wrote/what-it-feels-like-to-be-looked-at-47bdd53c7ba5

https://medium.com/@kaiamaeve/how-to-get-more-centered-inside-your-own-experience-e72a0643c7b1