Yes, you get older, but you can also grow tougher, kinder, braver.

Um, wiser? That's the one that counts the most, and seems to be lost in this essay. There are obviously qualitative differences in the experience of being a man vs. being a woman, but we all age, and we all reflect as we do (at least, anyone worth talking to does). It seems that the world in which the author lives is a pretty shallow one, as I suppose maybe the life of a model can be. But I don't think it reflects the broader world. I work with with a highly educated group of people, the majority of whom are women, and age is certainly considered a huge positive in that type of environment. Sex and sex appeal are important, but they're not everything. I was excited to turn 30, because I thought it would be easier to be taken seriously. But really, good ideas are what make people take you seriously, no matter what age. There are some things I agree with in this piece, such as her reflections on innocence as a prison, but it seems like she occupies a pretty superficial space on the whole. Don't want to be objectified? Don't become a model, for one. Not that that excuses being treated poorly within that field, but objectification is the whole goddam reason you're there. The entirely of what a camera does to a person is to objectify. You're part of the problem, an active participant in your own objectification, at that point, so it's difficult to take gripes about it seriously.