BO-TOXicity

Ever wonder who is the epitome of a Greek goddess? J.Lo, you know? Jenny from the Block? Now I understand it might be too much of an exaggeration to assume that she has never had Botox injected into every inch of her body but whatever anti-ageing injections she has been getting, those are the right kind. My mother and JLO are just two years apart but if I set aside the unconditional love I have for my mother, they look generations apart. A few months ago, my mother was pretty insistent that she wants to get Botox to treat her crow lines. It took all the argumentative skills I learned at university to convince her otherwise. For further effect, I asked my other siblings to intervene too, in case all of my talent wasn’t enough. That’s how we won: Four to one. My mother got the impression that this was somehow a very regular procedure, given it was being carried out on morning shows much like make-up tutorials. There were legit dermatologists injecting Botox onto people’s faces or even celebrities on live television! This made her believe that it was perfectly acceptable to get a lift here and a filler there – if the end result meant all your flaws (or, at least, what you considered to be your flaws) disappeared overnight.

This is what excessive marketing campaigns have done to our psyche. We must always be the glossiest, shiniest version of ourselves. I am almost 25 and my youngest sister has started recommending to me various anti-ageing creams because that’s what it says in the advertisement: “Signs of ageing begin to show on your skin after 25 and hence you must use this product if you want to avert the unimaginable, the unspeakable, the godforsaken phenomenon of ageing.”

My mother got the impression that this was somehow a very regular procedure, given it was being carried out on morning shows much like make-up tutorials. There were legit dermatologists injecting Botox onto people’s faces - even celebrities - on live television!

The truth is that these marketing companies really like to play with our insecurities in the most blatant way: by offering us solutions to problems that don’t even exist in the first place. I can already anticipate what I’m getting on my 25th birthday from the youngest bundle of joy at our house but I might just give it back to her because given the kind of make-up she applies on her face, she might need it before I do. Low blow? I agree. But you have to show these pesky know-it-all teenagers who the real boss is…

Age is not a joke. Or perhaps it is when you are catcalling your friend who is 2 years older than you for being a senior citizen, but when someone makes the same call to you, it is not. Lesson learnt? Sensibilities and sensitivities reverted?

Now, I have always believed that we must constantly enrich and alter our perspectives on life towards a more comprehensive understanding of the universe. Towards a more fulfilling, purpose driven life. This reflection could just be the wisdom that comes with age but worry not, we are not getting into that. I’m just saying it’s funny how years of education taught us not to use social conditioning as a yardstick but when put to the test, it hasn’t been as effective as we thought it was. I don’t know why I keep on getting into the profounder side of things. Could be age but I’ll deflect that again.

Anyhow, coming back to Botox and the miraculous speed with which the phenomenon is spreading in Pakistan. Another reason that prompted my mother towards Botox, I am sure, were the before-and-after Botox photos at our dermatologist’s. You should visit your nearest dermatologist to see what I’m referring to. The crow lines, laugh lines, frown lines, wrinkles and all other signs of abominable ageing are shown as having disappeared with one magical injection.

Is this the youth potion that we used to read about in fairytales? I don’t think so. If anything, these magical injections make us all look like clones of the Kardashian family. Higher cheekbones, fuller lips, tightened skin: these, in fact, take away anything and everything that makes our faces uniquely human.

Ageing is perhaps the most natural and inevitable thing known to humankind and yet the disdain with which we regard it is really beyond me. And some people will continue to make money by selling us potentially harmful procedures as long as we continue to think about age that way.