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In National Geographic, Willie Drye argues that the fountain of youth has "been a popular myth for centuries."  Mortality is a fate shared by humanity, and as we age, we become more and more conscious of the inevitability of death, and often seek to reverse it.  Beliefs about aging continue to be transmitted today, through literary and non-literary texts in popular culture.  The way we receive these texts is influenced by a complex intersection of factors, including our age, gender, education, religion, culture, social, historical, political and environmental factors.  How do YOU feel about aging?

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Kruger uses a bold, white sans serif font to deliver a pithy aphorism about our narcissistic preoccupation with the perceived negative impact aging will have on our physical appearance. The red text bars in the foreground create a provocative contrast with the black and white photograph in the background. However, the "dolled up" girl's gaze makes us question if we are placing too much emphasis on our looks, and if this constant fear is hindering us from experiencing real beauty and happiness.

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Regardless of gender, no one is immune from the scrutiny of the tabloids who ruthlessly track celebrities as they age and judge how well they are passing the test of time.  Here, Johnny Depp is shamed for having "duller skin" and "lackluster hair" at 51, in contrast to the "dark and mysterious" good looks he had when he shot to stardom as a teen idol.  The audience may experience schadenfreude while reading tabloids and magazines and watching entertainment shows, taking pleasure in the pain of celebrities who age badly.  These negative portrayals of aging can cause a boost in the viewer's  self-esteem, which can also plummet quickly when juxtaposed with celebrities who age "gracefully" (albeit with the help of plastic surgery, personal chefs, trainers, and stylists in many cases!).

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In addition to physical decline, we must also brace ourselves for mental decline. Brian Crane portrays the daily life of Earl and Opal Pickles, a fictional retired couple in their seventies.  He uses humour to poke fun at the traditional gender roles and the power dynamics in the Pickles' marriage. The comic strip also reveals some of the tension between the older generation and the younger generation when the Pickles fail to adapt successfully to technology and new social and cultural trends. While the overall purpose of the work is to entertain the audience, laughter is nevertheless derived at the expense of the aged. The foibles of the Pickles may be considered endearing, but the elderly are nevertheless portrayed as weak, inept, and outdated.

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Thankfully, companies like Dove are opening up the debate on aging and beauty with the question, "Why can't more women feel glad to be grey?" This positive approach to aging in the "Real Beauty" campaign earned Dove sales of $2.5 billion, and ten years later, they've almost doubled to $4 billion (Chambers).

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Moreover, songs like Neil Young's "Old Man" can help to minimize the gap between the young and the old, and make us realize that aging is natural; despite the changes we experience, much of who we are and what we need in life stays the same. Young beseeches the old man on the ranch he bought in California to see this connection: "Old man take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you /
I need someone to love me
the whole day through."

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In her poem "Warning," Jenny Joseph muses on how growing old can finally free us from the trappings of a society that dictates our fashion, morals and behaviour. The rhetorical shift at the end, "But maybe I ought to practice a little now?" challenges us to take ourselves a bit less seriously and live life according to what makes us happy.
Warning
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

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Finally, Philip Larkin uses the analogy of a tree to teach us that aging is natural, and change is an opportunity for growth and renewal. The repetition and sibilance in the last line, "begin afresh, afresh, afresh" is a memorable mantra that aging is not an end in itself, and every day is a new beginning.
The Trees
The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

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Chambers, Bruce. "Consumers becoming critical of Dove's 'Real Beauty' ads." CBC News, https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/consumers-becoming-critical-of-dove-s-real-beauty-ads-1.2678460

Crane, Brian. Go Comics, https://www.gocomics.com/pickles

Drye, Willie. "Fountain of Youth." National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/archaeology/fountain-of-youth/

Joseph, Jenny. “Warning” PoemHunter, https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/warning/

Kruger, Barbara. “I Never Want to Grow Old.” Art History Archive, http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/Barbara-Kruger.html

Larkin, Philip. “The Trees.” All Poetry, https://allpoetry.com/The-Trees

Maybelle, Morgan. “They Must Have Had a Tough Life.” Mailonline,  “https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3047324/They-tough-life-Kate-Moss-Brad-Pitt-celebrities-aged-BADLY-past-decade-revealed.html

Young, Neil. “Old Man.” AZLyrics, https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/oldman.html