Woman Says That Millennial Moms Are The “Almond Moms Of Anti-Aging” “I don’t know about you, but when 12-year-olds are asking for retinol I think we have a problem on our hands.” The term “almond mom” has been floating around the internet for a hot minute now. For those who do not know, an almond mom tends to be a mom who is obsessed with their weight. They then pass on all that unhealthy, toxic thinking to their children. The term was coined thanks to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, Yolanda Hadid. During a moment with her daughter, supermodel Gigi Hadid, Gigi complains about feeling very hungry and weak. Yolanda then proceeds to tell her to “have a couple of almonds, and chew them really well.” Yeah, not the best moment of reality TV! However cringey that moment was, Hadid’s off-putting comment going viral years later did bring light to the toxicity of this kind of a mother — the ones who are buying diet snack foods, encouraging their daughters to sign up for Weight Watchers, and making remarks about what they’re eating. Millennial moms have worked to break that generational trauma, even introducing the concept of an anti-almond mom — the moms who have found food freedom and work tirelessly to ensure their kids don’t grow up to have an unhealthy relationship with food and body image. This is all well and good, but of course, millennial moms have their own s**t and one mom has nailed it down to the aging process and how millennial women are doing work when it comes to slowing the anti-aging process. “We are the almond moms of anti-aging,” Alex D’Amour said in her video. “I don’t know about you, but when 12-year-olds are asking for retinol I think we have a problem on our hands, and we need to ask ourselves how we’re contributing to this problem.” She clarifies that she’s not blaming women for this problem, but rather, the powers that be who have pushed down societal pressures on women to look a certain way until they die basically. She believes that women are the ones who actually hold the power. “If we stopped caring about aging altogether, and we just age not gracefully because men never have to age gracefully they can just get fat and bald and just be an old guy and that’s normal … So if we just age and stop giving a f**k we would put a billion-dollar industry out of business like that overnight,” she said. D’Amour then calls back to her adolescence and growing up with almond moms. Because of them, she has had her fair share of body issues, admitting to thinking about her weight every single day. Relatable! “I’ve come so far in embracing and loving my body, but it still f**ks me up every single day and that is what we are doing to this younger generation when 12-year-olds, 18-year-olds, 21-year-olds are genuinely afraid of aging,” she said. The millennial generation didn’t have any sort of insight into skincare as tweens and teens (or even 20-somethings!), I was rubbing my face raw with St. Ives Apricot scrub for years with not a care in the world. D’Amour shared a similar experience. “I didn’t think about aging until I was 30 because that’s kind of when the skincare craze started. I slept with makeup on for basically a decade. Millennials weren’t taught to care about skincare and wrinkles and any of that shit,” she explained. “So again, it’s not about even like, considering, ‘Should I get Botox? Should I keep doing it? Should I not?,’ but it’s just about taking a moment and thinking about what our responsibility is towards this younger generation because … we have so much power and when 12-year-olds are asking for retinol I think we have a problem and we need to consider how we’re contributing to that problem.” Her take went viral, resonating with so many millennials who feel stuck in that anti-aging culture. “Yes! Maybe anti-aging is just diet culture in a different font. Both fruits from the tree of consumerism,” one user wrote. “Ugh this is SUCH a good reminder as I notice all these new face wrinkles. How lucky am I to get older!!!” another said. Another commented, “It’s sooooo true. The body obsession is now anti-aging obsession” One user shared, “The anti aging rn is CRAZY. Filler and Botox and lifts used to be just normal for celebs. I’m 26 and can name a dozen friends who have already had work done.” The OP replied, “‘BeCaUsE iTs PrEvEnTaTiVe!’ 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that sentence in justifying why 25 years are getting botox !!!! Almost every night, I look in the mirror to scan over (and critique) my face, searching for wrinkles and imperfections. I’ve considered Botox several times. My friends and I talk about facials, chemical peels, and the latest serums that are supposedly overnight miracles. I can rest easy knowing that I never, ever, talk about how unsatisfied I am with my skin or my aging process, but this is a wonderful reminder that talking poorly about my aging self is really no different than examining my figure in front of the mirror within earshot of my four-year-old and complaining about my thighs.
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