Too old to bare all

Over-50 nudity makes some flesh crawl is an interesting Cox News Service story that delves into our society's attitudes toward age, body image and mortality:

Whenever an actor over 50 bares all, or even partially, noses wrinkle. The actor is showing reality, not the mass-marketed Playboy version of life. And that can be difficult to handle for those who haven't reached a certain age.

"They don't want to see what they may eventually look like," explains psychologist Florence Kaslow.

"They fear the future. After all, they may be thinking, 'If I find that ugly and disgusting, what will people find when they look at me 30, 40, 50 years from now?' "

So much for telling older men and women it's OK to substitute passion for the bodily perfection of youth. It's a hard illusion to maintain when aged bodies are being viewed as taboo or frightening.

How we see the body we will all someday inhabit (if we age without plastic surgery) has a lot to do with our culturally developed sense of disgust and the lack of exposure young people have to their elders.