Dear Dead Ladies,
Society values the young, and for women, certain types of bodies and faces. What advice do you have for me as I age and approach Act III of my life?
Darling Violet Vandervixen,
With age comes grace and with grace comes beauty, wisdom, and wise cracking 😉
Being a sex symbol myself, even into my 80’s, I understand the pressure to always be seen as attractive (and darling I was). I didn’t let being a sex symbol define me any more than age should define you (or anybody).
Mae West
I had some of the best times of my life past age 50! In fact, in my 60’s I met a smashing fellow named Paul Novak, with whom I spent the final 25 years of my life. Paul once said “he was put on this earth” to care for me! There is always time for love and admiration as long as you know yourself to be gorgeous, take care of yourself, and let others take care of you, too!
I wrote The Drag about the joy of celebrating acceptance of who you are in the face of societal rejection and even arrest. The Drag is also about the overwhelming pressure to conform and how sometimes we want so badly to fit into society that we lose our minds. When it comes down to it, we can either love ourselves and seek community, or hate ourselves and seek what seems like acceptance, but is really conforming to that point of view.
My advice? Be yourself (and love that self - loud and proud), and leave behind anyone who doesn’t serve you! It is an act of protest to reject those beliefs society has thrust upon us. And hey, if they are going to take you to jail anyway, you might as well go in a limo (like I did). Go all out and in style, haters be damned!
As a bonus bit of fun, check out The Best of My Quips on YouTube
~ Mae West
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