Pursuit Of Eternal Youth

What's leading teenagers to delve into the world of anti-ageing products and treatments, and is anyone talking to them about the consequences?

- KONIKA DATTA

Internalised ageism has many a times become a point of discussion, but one might've thought that with all the wokeness - women refusing to colour their hair to hide their age, embracing their little skin changes - might mean we're breaking out of that ageist mentality. However, when the video of a 14-year-old showcasing her anti-ageing skincare routine (which includes using retinol twice a day) raised its head on the internet, it was clear that we're far from breaking out of it.

This video might come as a surprise to some, but the truth of the matter is that this anti-ageing craze among teenagers has been brewing for a while now. Reddit is flooded with pleas like "Premature ageing at 16. What are my options?" and "Wrinkles at 19?!" There's also a rise of teenage influencers who talk about ageing. In one YouTube video, a teen explains to her viewers the importance of applying a serum before using gua sha to prevent premature wrinkles as "we don't want to look like raisins when we are older". Even Gen Z has joined this teenage bandwagon of being obsessed with finding solutions to perceived flaws such as like wrinkles, fine lines, and other signs of ageing before they have even begun. What is perpetuating in them this age-old belief system, and how can they unlearn this ideology of anti-ageing?

REIGN OF ANTI-AGEING AND CAPITALISM