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The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
–Coco Chanel
I am woman. A woman who has lived on this planet for half a century . Exciting years. I raised two wonderful children, I studied, learned several languages and I traveled, I published books, wrote articles and created theatre. I have cried and loved (and still love), had good and bad times and I wouldn't want to miss a single day of my life or a single experience. And I have wrinkles! Wrinkles show the world, the roads on my map of life. I am not 20 years old (thank goodness). I am not deformed or disfigured. I have nothing to be ashamed of, and for years I totally ignored advertisements telling me I should be ashamed of wrinkles, gray hair, pale untanned skin, and uneven facial features for the simple reason that I think I look actually quite good, because I feel good, and age was merely an abstract number on some documents. I even pitied women who went into the painful circle of cosmetic surgery or the use of Botox.
Until I came back to Greece.
People have to live and to pay bills, so I went to find a job. I love my work, I am passionate about theatre and Athens is full of theatres.
I had forgotten how small this country is, and that you need to know somebody's cousin who knows the cousin of someone else to find a decent job. All vacancies of interest are a subject dealt with behind closed doors. Apart from a few cases where I supplied people with help and information and assisted in upcoming projects (only to never hear from them again), there remained the options of voluntary work. That does not pay the rent.
So job hunting it was. I looked for a job agency. Nobody ever heard of anything like that in this country. I tried the web. Greeks apparently don't know how to use the Internet either. Newspapers were next. And there the adventure began. "Looking for a girl/young woman up to 25. good looking, independent with job experience". Almost every add had an age restriction, 35 years being the upper limit. What is happening here? You have to look good, be single (why?) and experienced at the same time? (experienced in what?)
I started to take the roads of my neighborhood, asking in every single shop, restaurant or company that had a sign outside asking for employees. And they were not ashamed to tell me into my face that I am too old. Apparently there are laws all over the world that prohibit age discrimination, but apparently this information has yet to arrive in Macho-Greece. Then I stepped into another fashion store and told the owner, a lady this time, that I had come for the vacancy. She looked at me for about 2 minutes and said: "I think we want someone younger." And I looked at her. The blond of her hair was as fake as her nails and her tan. The skirt was too short, her blouse too tight, her cleavage too big, and all together she looked wrong. This wasn't the outfit for a woman in her age and position, but the cheap result of someone desperately trying to look ten years younger.
At that point I asked the crucial question: "Mirror, mirror.." Am I old? Too old to work? Why am I old and men with balding heads, fat bellies and BO are young and sexy? And competent, experienced? Am I too old because my job and life experience is intimidating and I will neither show cleavage, nor cook coffee and certainly won't let anybody pinch my bum? Do I have to go blond, wear mini skirts and bright colours, fake nails, high heels and pink lipstick? Get a boob, nose, and bum job and spend the other half of my salary in spas?
What I know is that we have fought for our rights to have at least the same opportunities on the job market, the rights to study, the rights to be treated as human beings, as equals. Is this the wake-up call? Look at the advertising business, the presentation of women in films (always waking up with make-up and fresh breath), the music business (featuring the pimp?)
We have been sold, beaten, burned, sexually and psychologically mutilated, raped, abused. We still give birth (yes, that is what we do), clean, cook, prostitute ourselves and are pushed into prostitution on a daily basis! Yes, there are sweet, intelligent, sensible and open-minded men, but all together, boys, something is terribly wrong.
Or is it something else, something not at all sexist? Has age and the looks required to keep up the lies become the number one factor? What is this obsession with beauty and youth?
A genetically engineered organism that lives 10 times longer than normal has been created by scientists in California. It is the greatest extension of longevity yet achieved by researchers investigating the scientific nature of ageing. If this work could ever be translated into humans, it would mean that we might one day see people living for 800 years.
Wow! Do you get a free face lift with that plus a new ID card every 50 years? It sounds tempting, yes, but think about it! Nobody leaves, nobody dies! Spielberg will still make film in 650 years and more terrible things will happen. Will anyone work and/or will everyone be an artist? How rich, mean and motionless will people become? Or will this be only an option to the rich and famous?
Well, have fun, you deserve Satre's hell!
In the meantime, I happily admitted to myself that I never wanted to sell shoes or clothes, I wear again the clothes I like, and ignore the calls from the landlord. Eventually I'll move to another country, I'll get a job, produce theatre for another half of a century, keep on writing and be what I am. An educated, creative, sensual woman, never mind the abstract numbers on my papers. And eternity with all her perfect looks, well - she can wait!
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