Can we ban the word anti-ageing already
Sweden is banning sale of anti-ageing products to children, let's go a step further
Forgive me for starting this newsletter with one of the 21st century’s worst phrases, but I was listening to a podcast, when I heard something so ridiculous, I immediately yelled expletives. In it, a famous author was being interviewed about the right kind of language to use with regards to a specific aspect of mental health, and he said that ‘it didn’t really matter, the words are not important.’
Putting aside the head-spinning fact that a person who trades in words says they aren’t important, words have shaped histories, altered the course of wars, been wielded to denigrate whole groups of people. On a much lesser stage, as anyone who has been to an all girls school can attest, words written in the flurry of notes passed around like a Beelzebub’s postal system can end friendships and be used to ostracise.
This week, I was reminded again of how important words are, particularly when they are used as a shorthand to support deep-rooted prejudices, that then have a cascading effect on a macro level. The outcome of which is this week’s news, that a leading pharmacy chain Sweden will be refusing to sell anti-ageing or ‘advanced skincare’ products to children.
For anyone who is new to the story, there is a worrying boom among children demanding skincare products because they want their skin to remain youthful, and because they are using products with active ingredients that are too intense and unnecessary for their skin, dermatologists are seeing a rise in skin conditions among adolescents.
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