filmmakers

They watch themselves on video. Their reactions vary: Aspasia notices how the changes in her face contrast with her internal picture of herself. Odil, who was considered less pretty than her sisters now believes she looks better than all of them. Jan feels her golden hair compensates for her changing face. Beverley wishes she had appreciated her looks as she was growing up. Carole is pleased with how she looks five years after cosmetic surgery. Hope feels compassion for herself on seeing how sad and vulnerable she appears. And Wendy thinks she looks just fine for her age and status of grandmother.

The women uncover the early sources of their present assessment: judgments from family, comparisons with siblings, and messages of an advertising/media culture that emphasizes youth as the epitome of beauty. All these contribute, in both positive and negative ways, to their sense of attractiveness. Through such self-revelations they encourage each other to explore the anxiety of growing older.

"My aunt had a face lift."

This fear raises the question of whether or not to "do something about it." The pervasive media attention on cosmetic surgery, botox injections and anti-aging face creams has an impact on every woman's thinking on this "problem." The question arises whether to age naturally or try to simulate a more youthful appearance into our fifties, sixties and beyond.

Reactions differ. Odil, Wendy and Jan do not even consider surgery. Aspasia and Beverley have thought seriously about it. Carole has already had her face "done" — and plans to do it again.

In the corresponding way that young women in the 1970's began talking frankly about being female in America, these women, thirty years later, feel the same liberating effects and connection with each other through sharing their common sensitivities around aging.