For as long as I can remember, Emma Watson has been one of my favorite celebrities. It isn’t often that we see strong, well-read, and educated women in popular media who are passionate about promoting empowerment. Watson embodies all of that.

Every time I hear her speak or watch her on a red carpet, I get chills. She’s poised and calm, yet somehow captures both raw emotion and intelligence in nearly every response. Because I admire her so much, I was thrilled when I saw she would be a guest on an upcoming podcast. The day the episode was released, I put on my coziest clothes, settled in, and pressed play.

Content vs. Comments

The conversation touched on many topics, from navigating public life to love, marriage, and continued self-discovery. But when I scrolled through the comments, I noticed something striking: no one was talking about what Watson had said. Instead, nearly all the attention was on her appearance. The top comment read: “Wow, so nice to see a natural face in Hollywood! What beautiful wrinkles.”

For context, Watson has maintained her aversion to fillers and Botox despite the pressures of a Hollywood career. Personally, I think this makes her even more stunning. However, the flood of comments revealed something extremely troubling: people were shocked that a woman Watson’s age looked… natural.

Lived Experience

We live in an era of hyper-feminization and youth obsession, where it seems there’s a med spa on every corner. Even at my dentist’s office, I was casually offered to start the “baby Botox” routine at my next cleaning to get ahead of the wrinkles. At the ripe age of 20, society is already concerned I might look like I’ve aged.

The message is everywhere: aging is a problem to be solved, not a natural process to be lived. This can create an endless cycle of treatments. The initial goal of preserving youth gives way to an ongoing chase to ‘fix’ the latest result.

And it's an experience that often affects women in a unique way. Though aging affects everyone, women bear the brunt of society’s panic about it. Men are often celebrated as they age; “silver fox” is a compliment. Women? No such term exists.

Truthfully, I don’t understand our obsession with erasing the signs of a life well-lived. Our bodies are more than ornaments; they’re vessels of deep experience. They show signs of joy, love, and labor. Our wrinkles highlight the joy we expressed, and our stretch marks and scars highlight the beauty of reproduction.

Reverence for Aging

I urge you: let your body exist as it is. I want my face to look lived in—because I have lived in it. What an honor to have laughed so much that I carry creases near my smile. What an honor to have smiled so hard that crow’s feet etched themselves near my eyes. What an honor to have lived a life so full that my face shows it.

It isn’t easy to resist the constant pressure to look forever young, but maybe real beauty is found not in denying time, but in embracing it. Your natural face, in all its glory, deserves to exist without shame, without guilt, and without apology.

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