Earlier this week I watched Bad Reputation, the documentary about the career of rocker Joan Jett. ‘Twas entertaining, if somewhat of a puff piece, mostly glossing over the Serious Issues ® that could have been brought up or just taking a closer look at her life and times.
Speaking of taking a closer look, I love that JJ’s still wearing her trademark Chuck Taylor high tops at “her age” (just on the other side of sixty, as am I, on both counts [1] ).
I’m also disappointed in another aspect of what she’s “wearing.” With all of her proto-punk, I-love-rock-n’-roll, take no prisoners/kick-ass attitude, why, since the mid 2010’s, has her face morphed into that which resembles someone’s maiden auntie doing a Cher/Joan Rivers impersonation?
In verse three of Jett’s hit song, Bad Reputation, she snarls,
I don’t give a damn ’bout my reputation
I’ve never been afraid of any deviation…
Apparently, the one deviation Jett fears is that of saying fuck you to the seeming mandate that females in the public eye are not allowed to age naturally. I wanted someone – a “rock journalist” or the documentary’s narrator…someone…to ask her about that. I wanted a more careful, nuanced Q & A session, which would include getting her to address this conundrum: one of rock n’ roll music’s most defining elements has been its take your status quo/expectations and shove it attitude, so why has Jett, a quintessential rock n’ roller, felt the need to have all the cosmetic “work” done on her face, including the obvious injections of a paralytic neurotoxin to mask evidence that she’s ever reacted to a “Three priests and two rabbis walk into a bar….” joke? [2]
Isn’t that silly – that moiself could, maybe, even for a moment, imagine that happening?
Probably also silly is me thinking a rock musician, particularly an LGBTQ one, as Jett is, should be more immune to societal expectations re women and aging.
The pressures on women re appearance have always been more intense, but there are male rockers who’ve also succumbed to the lure of the Frozen Face Fairy. Thus, in fairness, my Fantasy Inquisitive Rock Journalist ® must pose similar questions to Steven Tyler; Paul Stanley; Vince Neil, Rick Springfield, Ozzie Osbourne, Gene Simmons…. [3]
Botox, schmotox, mate! It’s me special bat-head collagen diet!
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Department Of While I’m On That Subject….Something To Look Forward To
“In interviews, the first question I get in America is always: ‘What do you do to stay young?’ I do nothing. I don’t think aging is a problem…. Yes, my face has wrinkles. But I don’t find it monstrous. I’m so surprised that the emphasis on aging here is on physical decay, when aging brings such incredible freedom.
(Isabella Rossellini)
Moiself is usually suspicious of articles with titles like this one: The Joy of Being a Woman in Her 70s (NY Times 1-12-19) by clinical psychologist Mary Pipher. Nonetheless, when I saw the headline in my Tuesday morning newsfeed, its opening paragraphs caught my attention. Truer words have rarely been published (my emphases):
When I told my friends I was writing a book on older women like us, they immediately protested, “I am not old.” What they meant was that they didn’t act or feel like the cultural stereotypes of women their age. Old meant bossy, useless, unhappy and in the way. Our country’s ideas about old women are so toxic that almost no one, no matter her age, will admit she is old.
In America, ageism is a bigger problem for women than aging.
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Department Of Random Thoughts
While Hiking On The Cape Falcon Trail Last Saturday
When I am on a trail and hikers coming toward me (going uptrail as I am going downtrail, or vice-versa) pass by, certain hikers seem to be encased in an invisible “aroma bubble.” That is, there will be a faint but discernible and (almost always) pleasant fragrance which wafts across the trail in their wake.
Most fellow hikers just pass by (sometimes exchanging greetings) – other than hearing and/or feeling the vibration of their footsteps, if I were blind I would not be able to detect them. And yes, If I were blind I would still be hiking, with the support and guidance of my Guide Hamster.
Yet again, I digress.
Back to those fragrant females – did I mention that those tangy trekkers, whether solo or in a group, are always female and usually younger (as in, younger than moiself)?
It is not the smell of sunscreen which they emit; the scent is lightly floral or sometimes citrus-y, and causes me to wonder what kind of lotion/cream/deodorant/perfume they are wearing…or perhaps is it the residue of their shampoo and/or conditioner? Then, just for a moment, I wonder what if any “fragrance” they detect from moiself as they pass by.
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Department Of Picking Your Battles
I have previously mentioned in this space my friend, political/activist blogger who writes under the pseudonym, Spocko. If you are interested in what I call Cognitive Behavior Therapy In The Form Of Rational Activism ® – i.e., not just identifying and ranting about what’s wrong, but researching how things work and applying effective solutions – then Spocko’s Brain is the blog for you.
In his January 4 post, “How to stop friends fighting over the 2020 President picks,” Spocko focuses on the importance of keeping one’s eyes on the prize, as the Democratic candidates start declaring for the 2020 race:
Watching the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination race start on MSNBC makes me weary. Friends tell me they dread it.
One said, “Spocko, my brain will explode if we go through another campaign season like 2016!”
As someone who has had his brain removed I am strongly against brains exploding, especially ones on our side. So, how can you stop friends fighting and brains exploding?
Here is what I’m going to do: Every time I see an online debate about Warren, Beto, Biden, Harris, Sanders or any possible Democratic presidential nominee I will stop and ask myself:
“What can I do stop the criminality of Republicans? What can I do to expose the anti-democratic institutions and organization they run? How can I de-fund and defeat the people and groups that made Trump, McConnell and Ryan possible?”
Check out Spocko’s Brain, sez moiself, for sound and sanity-preserving strategies.
Also, follow MH’s example and work for changes in our electoral system so that we never have another tragedy like that with which we are currently afflicted (the loser of the popular vote is “chosen” as President, due to our antediluvian Electoral College mess). How can you work to see that every vote, in every state, will matter in every presidential election? You do know about the National Popular Vote bill (already enacted by 12 states and jurisdictions), don’t you? If not, educate yourself (it won’t take long, as it is a simple concept) on what will insure that the person who actually wins the presidential election gets to be president, and lobby your state representatives to enact it. [4]
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Department Of Time Out For A Personal Message
A Close Personal Friend ® of mine says Happy 26th birthday to my nephew, KMV!
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Department Of Some Speculations Are Deeper Than Others
While hiking with MH on Oregon Coast’s Cape Falcon Trail and apropos of nothing, I began to wonder [5] about etiquette involving a (improbable, but not absolutely out of the question) dinner party scenario.
Setting: MH and I are hosting several new acquaintances for appetizers and drinks. These guests are known to us as being in “open” relationships (read: they each have multiple romantic partners). As I pass the basket of wheat thins around the table, would it be un-PC of me to ask,
Poly want a cracker?
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May you practice sound and sanity-preserving strategies
in the face of the political seasons to come;
May you remember to fight ageism and not aging;
May you continue to find unique ways to pass the crackers;
…and may the hijinks ensue.
Thanks for stopping by. Au Vendredi!
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[1] That is, I’m on the other side of sixty and still wearing Converse.
[2] Aka the Botox treatments…but y’all probably figured that out, right?
[3] Just Google their before and after pictures. Yikes.
[4] While it may seem piece meal, to have to do this state by state, it is actually more feasible than the cumbersome process of amending the Constitution of the USA.
[5] Time for another footnote? Maybe not.
