A New York Times article reports that last week, the FDA has issued “a so-called black-box warning” be added to the label of Botox and similar drugs. Contrary to what you may think, it is not to warn people that a toxin is being injected into their body. (Come on, that’s just common knowledge!) The warning is to warn patients that “the material has the potential to spread from the injection site to distant parts of the body” potentially causing serious complications. So who knew things injected into our body could travel? Some IV drug user broke the code of honor by revealing this secret to the rest of the world!
The FDA is proud to call the black-box warning its strongest safety actions, and the articles compares this warning on Botox to a similar warning on antidepressants. How is there even a comparison? There certainly is a difference between affecting brain chemistry with the risk of suicidal thoughts, and the possibility of a paralyzing toxin we voluntarily inject, traveling through our body.
The article also states that “the F.D.A. said it would also require makers of injectable toxins to send doctors letters warning of their risks and to produce a medication guide to be given to patients at the time of injection.” So what was done before? Were patients ever really fully informed of what was being put in their body?
When Botox first came out, it spread like wildfire. The idea that there was an immediate remedy to look younger for a period of time was something no woman with money could ever pass up. As the article states, botox contains “injectable botulinum toxins [that] are purified forms of the bacterial poison botulism, a paralyzing disease that can be fatal.” Does the idea of paralyzing ourselves on purpose not alarm the patients who show interest in this drug and even get it injected on a regular basis? There was a time when medicine was about treating diseases, not only to save lives but also improve the quality of life for patients. The fact that we use the same diseases we once struggled to cure to now benefit our cosmetic effects shows how much focus has shifted to pure physicality in our society.
What is it about our society that convinces women that agelessness is beautiful? It should be enough that medicine has give us the opportunity to live a lot longer than our predecessors. Who do women really fool by getting rid of frown lines and wrinkles? It could be that media tells us that young women can get away with a lot more than older women. Movies such as Miss Congeniality show that good looks can be used as means to an end, and women who look ‘sexy’ can be just as, if not more, accomplished and successful. It could also be that all society portrays old people as senile with impaired judgment and poor motor and driving skills. But what we seem to have forgotten is that aging is a natural process. We are actually lucky enough to have life expectancies that allow us to even worry about grey hair and wrinkles. As for the behavior of old people, it is indeed just that. No specific age or number of wrinkles can control the way someone acts. For all its worth someone can be senile and drive slow at any age.
So what is the infatuation that enabled Botox to earn about $1.3 billion just last year alone? As the article states, up until very recently, Botox had no actual competitor, at least in this country. Since its introduction, Botox prices have continued to rise annually due to this reason.
The only products that can try to compete with Botox-like drugs are cosmetics and creams that say they offer the same ageless effects without ‘harmful’ injections. Just seeing a magazine or television ad for some of these products can help us begin to understand just how this facet of the industry works.
One such company, Nivea, claims that it’s age defying moisturizer can mean “the difference between high collars and plunging necklines” and has a slogan that dares women to “touch and be touched.” Sexuality sells in our society, above any other advertising mechanism. The thought of a woman being untouchable if she doesn’t look young enough sends a very mixed message to young women. On one hand, romance is exemplified, and many girls believe in fairytale, happy-ending love. Yet, our media tells young women that lust overpowers love, and does so in the long-term as well.
The stress on young women to stay ‘young and beautiful’ doesn’t just end with cosmetics and anti-aging drugs like Botox. In a society where obesity is a growing epidemic, especially among the young, there is a lot of pressure on girls to maintain a likeable, ‘sexy’ physique, as I discussed in a previous entry. From Disney movies to magazines like Playboy, the female body is worshipped, idealized, and even romanticized. From their childhood, girls are told they are unique like princesses, and they are taught that the world will treat them as such. But no princess or Playboy playmate has wrinkles, no matter what age they are. Women are constantly expected to live up to an unrealistic standard of looks and to maintain that for a large portion, if not all, of their lives.
Only by changing our emphasis on lust and sexuality will we be able to teach the upcoming generations of women that beauty truly does lie within the very wrinkle lines that make them who they are. The generations before us understood this- it’s not like older women weren’t loved or touched because there was no such thing as Botox in the 60’s. We can blame the media for their unhealthy portrayals of everything from love to lust, from a woman’s body to a man’s pursuit of it. It is important, however, to realize that the media only glorifies beliefs that society at large accepts as part of its norms. If we start believing in ageless beauty once again, we would realize the ramifications of paying thousands of dollars to get paralyzing disease injected into our bodies voluntarily.
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