Inspiring Women

Meryl at 60

Meryl at 30

Have you spent much time thinking about the roles celebrities play in our lives? I know I spend a lot of time looking at gossip rags when I'm at the gym, google image searching, and mining sites like gofugyourself.com for makeup ideas and missteps. A lot of celebs I feel affection for (Gaga, Snooki), am horrified by (Courtney Love, Lindsay Lohan), am tired of seeing (the Kardashian crew) or feel indifferent to (Jennifer Aniston). Feeling inspired by celebrities doesn't come as easily, however.

Their images are everywhere, and we know all about their private lives and dieting and beauty tips. It's kind of exhausting to be bombarded with before pics of celebs when they were "fat" (yeah right!) and "unsophisticated" and after images where they are "fit" (more like skeletal) and "polished". I think it can send very confusing messages about how women are supposed to look, and lead us to believe that how we look is more important than how we feel. In an age where women are supposed to be 24 years old, have line-free, airbrushed faces and curvy, size 00 bodies, where do most women fit in?

I think Meryl Steep is an incredible beauty role model for women of all ages. I chose these two photos of her from a recent issue of Vanity Fair because I think they highlight how gorgeously and gracefully she is aging. Would that I look like her when I'm 60! As far as I know she hasn't done any cosmetic surgeries or botoxed herself. She has always been a minimalist when it comes to makeup, choosing instead to work her unique bone structure. I think she is living proof than women can age glamorously and need not hang on to unrealistic (and frankly frivolous) standards of beauty.