Paulina Porizkova continues to candidly discuss aging.
The Swedish supermodel, 59, appeared on the Friday, Jan. 31 episode of the Today show and opened up about her perception of aging. She told anchor Savannah Guthrie that she can’t wait for her 60th birthday on April 9, saying, “I have never been more thrilled about a birthday in my life.”
She explained, “I’ve paid my dues. I’ve raised my children, I’ve had a family, I’ve been the wife, I’ve done everything society expected of me and you know what? It’s my turn.”
Guthrie, 53, followed up by saying that Porizkova has a new outlook on aging compared to years past.
“I feel like we’re so scared of wrinkles,” Porizkova replied. “Have you noticed that? We’re so terrified of wrinkles because I suppose wrinkles make us no longer relevant, no longer sexy, no longer desirable, and as women, that has been sort of our calling card – it’s tagged with us for such a long time.”
“And I keep looking at wrinkles — mine, yours, any woman that I see — and I think, ‘It’s your map of life. I see how you are as a person. Why would you want to erase it?’ ” she asked. “Why do we make wrinkles on the same par as acne?”
She noted that acne and wrinkles are the two more common concerns people go to a dermatologist for. “Acne is a disease, and wrinkles are the signs of privilege that you’re alive,” she said.
Guthrie added, “They’re badges of honor!” And Porizkova replied, “Why eliminate them? Why not embrace them? And I understand why — because society tells us that they don’t want us once we become wrinkled.”
Her comments follow the Thursday, Jan. 30 announcement that she has partnered with Estée Lauder as a global brand ambassador to advocate against ageism. “I’m so thrilled that Estée Lauder has discovered this same beauty that I keep seeing in me,” she told Guthrie of the brand’s advocacy initiative.
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Porizkova, who was an Estée Lauder spokesmodel from 1988-1995, said: “Almost 40 years later, and I’m again picking up the mantle two work with Estée Lauder.”
“The first time around, I felt like it was a job. I was working for Estée Lauter and it was a job for me and now, it’s a calling,” she said.
“Because this way, working in conjunction with them, I get to spread my message wider that we are the best we’ve ever been and we should not be dismissed,” she finished. “At the age society says, ‘Women, go to pasture,’ we’re saying, ‘No, not so fast.'”
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