Justine Bateman Explains Decision to Age Naturally: "I Just Don't Give a Shit"

[sl8]

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/03/justine-bateman-decision-age-naturally-no-botox-fillers-60-minutes-australia?

Justine Bateman Explains Decision to Age Naturally: “I Just Don't Give a Shit”

The Family Ties star said that she's never gotten Botox or fillers because she likes “feeling that I am a different person now than I was when I was 20.”

BY EMILY KIRKPATRICK
MARCH 28, 2023

1982 due to her role on the popular sitcom Family Ties, sat down for an interview with 60 Minutes Australia during which she explained why she's decided to embrace aging naturally. Bateman began by addressing critics of her looks, saying, “I just don't give a shit. I think I look rad. I think my face represents who I am. I like it.” She went on to admit that in the past she's been tempted to try out things like Botox and filler in order to make herself look younger, but ultimately decided that her face is a reflection of a life well lived. “I feel like I would erase, not only all my authority that I have now, but also, I like feeling that I am a different person now than I was when I was 20,” she said. “I like looking in the mirror and seeing that evidence.”

Bateman added that another reason she ultimately decided to maintain her natural appearance is because of all the women she's watched become obsessed with trying to halt the aging process. “I feel sad for them, I feel sad that they are not just enjoying life,” she told the interviewer. “I feel sad that they are distracted from the things that they are meant to do in life…with this consuming idea that they've got to fix their face before anything else can happen.”

When the actor was in her early 40s and writing her first book, Fame: The Hijacking of Reality, she recalled googling herself and seeing the autocomplete “looks old” pop up. This led her to examine the photos people had compiled as “evidence” of her aging. In April 2021, she told People that until then, “I thought my face looked fine.” But afterwards, “Because of some of the fears I had, unrelated to my face, I decided to make them right and me wrong...I became really ashamed of my face, ridiculously so.” That moment also made her realize, “My face is only going to get older, so why not take care of whatever fear I have attached to that.” Bateman concluded, “I think getting all this plastic surgery is just people pleasing. You don't want people to criticize you anymore so you appease them. The more you do that, the further away you get away from your true self,” adding, “I don't think it's natural to tell women they should get they faces fixed. That's the bottom line.”

[Deb]

1. She loves herself.

[twodogsbarking]

8. More than anything.

[Goonch]

2. 👇👇👇

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. She has the wrinkles of a happy person, no frown lines. Looks wonderful. . . nt

[Duppers]

12. Wonder why she's bothering with lower eyeliner now...

Given her "be all natural" attitude?

[Merlot]

15. Because it's her face and she can do what she wants?

[mzmolly]

17. She's aging naturally vs having plastic surgery.

She’s not opposed to wearing makeup.

[sheshe2]

25. You want her to not blow dry her hair too?

Come on.

[Chakaconcarne]

14. Imagine if she had gotten plastic surgery like the rest.......

That would be completely gross and a travesty...

Wish others would follow her example.

[madaboutharry]

3. She looks wonderful.

[ariadne0614]

5. She would look even better with naturally grey hair. n/t

[bamagal62]

6. Could be she hasn't started greying yet.

She’s a few years younger than me and I’ve only just now started greying at the hairline. I had no grey at her age. But, you are correct. She would also look beautiful with naturally greying hair.

[2naSalit]

7. She's younger than me...

And looks great. I started greying last year but 90% is at the hairline. My mom passed at 93 and she was only 50-60% grey. I suspect that I may not go entirely grey no matter how old I get.

[Rebl2]

19. I started

getting grey hairs in my early forties and am in my mid 60’s and still am not totally grey. Like you, I may never go totally grey.

[2naSalit]

20. And then there are some...

Who go grey in their twenties, I know of a mother and daughter who had that happen, They have been coloring their hair all of their adult lives. And the husband/father has had white hair all his life. I think he's as close to albino as one could get without being albino.

[Rebl2]

21. Have a cousin

that started getting a very few grey hairs in her late teens. She is in her early 50’s now and totally grey.

[slightlv]

24. My hair isn't 'greying"... it's becoming silver.

I get compliments on the color quite a lot. Still, I have thought of coloring it back to its original soft black color, in a vain effort to somehow look not quite so old. The one thing stopping me? It's a huge commitment towards maintenance. At this point, I wish I could say I just don't give a damn... but I'm not there yet. I do care, and I do get embarrassed that my face (and gravity on the rest of my body) has changed so much. After being obese all my life, now that the rest is going to hell in a handbasket, the weight finally came off and stayed off.

On one hand, I rage because it seems all so unfair, cries the little girl in me who was constantly berated and made fun of for being so fat.

On the other hand, I have to laugh at the insanity. That now that I'm "elderly" the weight finally went down to what it was suppose to be, and no one gives a damn.

No one really "sees" me... because I'm just an old woman.

I applaud Bateman for having made peace with her aging. For me, it's still a work in progress. But I figure if I can laugh and cut up with the friends I've had for 30+ years - over our aging (as well as everything else), then I'm still coming out ahead in the game.

[Merlot]

16. I'm sure she'll take online criticisms on her appearance seriously.

oh wait, she's already said she doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks about her looks.

[ariadne0614]

18. You noticed that too! n/t

[ratchiweenie]

26. And more natural makeup. She is a very beautiful woman but she could stop wearing hair and

makeup from when she was in the 20's. They make her look older than anything else does. But hey, Like with Jamie Curtis, I admire her for going with her age instead or raging against it.

[DFW]

9. That's exactly the way my wife feels about it

Last edited Wed Mar 29, 2023, 08:48 AM - Edit history (1)

She’ll be 71 in June. All the chemicals and scalpels in the world won’t change that, so why bother?

Of course, the fact that she inherited a fabulous set of genes, but she didn’t get a free ride, either. She has had to battle cancer twice to make it this far, and it was brutal both times.

[Farmer-Rick]

13. I can't imagine the pressure

To get your face cut up every several years so other people will think you look like what? I just think of the pain and the serious risk from anesthesia. Just so that your wrinkles don't offend them? That you look like what is currently fashionable? In a few years what's ok for a woman to look like will change and then more cutting on your face.

Some of the old timers who have been getting their faces cut up for decades have out dated procedures. You can see it on most older US actors' faces. (I frequently watch British Shows just so I can see normal women ageing normally.)

A lot of older actors have the area between their nose and top lip stretched out (before they used fillers) to get those wrinkles everyone gets on the top edge of their lip smoothed out. They look like ducks. I worried for years that area on my face would elongate like my ears. Guess what it didn't. Turns out it's just a bad plastic surgery technique.

And of course there is that squinty eye look that seems alien on most people. Malaria Trump had a bad case of plastic surgery squinty eyes until she had her kidneys fixed.

I think plastic surgeons have since developed better ways to get rid of normal baggy eyes. But elderly people still look weird what with their aging eyes looking out of a weirdly tight eyelid. Do they take off the eyelashes? It seems like they do.

I am so glad to see normal older people on TV and the movies that I purposely look for shows that feature them.

[bamagal62]

27. Yes, what's with the eyelashes?

I was at a party last week talking to beautiful woman in her 70s who clearly has had plastic surgery. There was something so odd about her eyes. They were like little round holes with no eyelashes. But, she didn’t have any eye wrinkles!
I hate that society has placed all this pressure on women to be perfect and look like they’ve never smiled or frowned or walked in the sun. I’m guilty of thinking of doing just what she did. And, then I get angry at myself for even considering it. Growing old sucks. But, it’s also the best thing ever!

[Farmer-Rick]

28. I love how you say that

Growing old sucks but it's also the best thing ever.

So true.

[dlk]

10. So much emphasis is placed on women looking young

The level of judgment is through the roof. The truth is everyone ages. It may be, in part, be due to our widespread phobia of death, which comes to everyone, as well.

[underpants]

11. I still have a huge crush on her

my wife knows she’s one of my celebrity crushes.

[republianmushroom]

22. I understand aging naturally.

What is, is , and what will be, will be.

[whathehell]

23. What she should be "sad" about is

a the male dominated world that places SO much more pressure on women staying young looking than it does men.