Home

Baby Boomers Looking Young and Feeling Young

Baby boomers may not have a corner on the market for an urgent desire to stay youthful but they certainly have set a high standard for creating a virtual avalanche of products and services to attend to that need.  The quest to look young in baby boomers has resulted in an explosion of profits in the cosmetic and plastic surgery markets.  It’s easy to criticize the desire of baby boomers to want to see themselves as youthful as simple vanity.  But it goes a lot deeper than that.

It doesn’t take a lot of research or analysis to see that baby boomers grounded their identities in the youth movement of the 1960s and 1970s.  Before the boomer generation erupted like a generational volcano, there really was no youth movement.  But in the 1960s, when youth culture virtually took over American and indeed world culture, everything changed for baby boomers and that change was never really reversed. 

The culture of that time that now seems very long ago, was one of the adoration of youth.  That desire to put age on a pedestal and worship everything about being young has permeated the culture even as the boomer generation moved into middle age and now is on the verge of creating the largest retirement generation ever. 

Not all of the youth worship that is easy to document in baby boomers is just about looking sexy and dreading the physical changes of growing older.  Some of what boomer’s love about the concept of youth has to do with the idealism and the commitment to causes that is common in young people.  The desire to change the world and to be a force to make mankind better was part of what made the new youth culture in the 1960s so unique.  And because those values are laudable, we really can’t completely condemn the desire by baby boomers to stay youthful.

So the quest to stay young often manifests itself in cosmetic attempts to look young.  You can almost understand the appeal.  We all like to look good.  But the real source of youth is not a tight butt and abs and smooth, wrinkle free skin.  The phrase “you are as young as you feel” is often scoffed at by baby boomers as a cheap cop out.  And it can be used to have an excuse to behave younger than you are and perhaps want to socialize with younger people in an inappropriate way.  But it can also reflect that an inner youthfulness which is fueled by a youthful outlook on life and a basic policy of good health and exercise will keep anyone spy and vital well into their senior years.

It is when baby boomers combine those elements of “inner youthfulness’ with their cosmetic efforts to stay young that they really do retain much of their youth beyond what their years would report.   We all have met an elderly man or woman who is so full of life and fun that they leave you feeling older than they are.  The sparkle in the eye, the curiosity about everything life has to offer and that optimism and idealism that you ordinarily associate with teenagers is truly inspiring when it is being expressed by a senior citizen.

This is the real youth movement that the baby boomer generation is pioneering.  It is more than dying the hair or using Botox and wrinkle creams.  It is about being strong role models to the youth coming up that they don’t have to give up on their dreams and that their idealism and excitement in living can thrive no matter what age they are.  And if that is the legacy of the baby boomer generation, it’s a fine ethic for them to leave behind for future generations to enjoy.


Weight Loss Guide
Dieting
Weight Loss - Lose Weight - Exercise
Anti-Aging
Fitness Program Guide
Fit Over 40
pH Diet
Yoga For Everyone
Health Fact Guide
Baby Boomers Get Fit Squidoo Lens
Baby Boomer Retirement Guide
Baby Boomer Health Guide
Elliptical Trainers
Personal Development
Stomach Exercises

Like this post? Publish It On Your Own Blog

Lewis Leake - Anti-Aging, Baby Boomers - February 25, 2008 - 3:26 am

Leave a Reply





Tips To Lose Your Belly Fat
Being skinny is definitely in right now for society, which leaves individuals who are overweight or obese looking for a quick fix to rid them of extra pounds. Almost everyone wanting to experience fat loss is looking for something that will allow them to lose belly fat quickly or at ...
 
Belly Fat Exercises That Will Melt Away Unwanted Holiday Pounds
If you want to burn unwanted "Holiday" fat I recommend combining a healthy diet and regular fitness exercise programs. Most dietitians will tell you that you can get more energy if you eat natural foods as opposed to processed foods. Madeline Lyne is a Registered Dietitian who instructs people ...
 
Information On Losing Weight With Fat Loss Diet Tips
Ever wondered why there are so many diets around out there and people are just getting fatter and fatter. We now know that fad and repeat dieting don't work, so what does! Your solution is here, simply click reduce your fatImportant Tips! Try Out1: Cut back on sugar!: Consuming too ...
 
Eating A Diet To Control Cholesterol And Living Healthier
A controlled low cholesterol meal plan is necessary for people diagnosed with cholesterol related heart disease. Many new dietary guidelines for people suffering from cholesterol related heart disease have been created because the risks of heart disease increase substantially if the blood cholesterol level is not lowered. The body ...
 
How to Find the Right Diet
If you were to Google the word diet or anything to do with diet, do you have any idea how many results would come up? You would find the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Biggest Loser Diet and so many more. ...
 
Find Out More About I Am A Winner….not A Loser! Does Anybody Know Of A Diet System With Me In Mind?
There is no hope for a project that begins with the expressed idea: "I WANT to LOSE...10 pounds", "I NEED to LOSE...20 pounds", or "My GOAL is to LOSE...100 pounds"Even though they are all noble and achievable goals, what the mind hears is ...