Troy posted a video of a celebrity that I had watched nearly a dozen times scrolling through the thread before I took time to read who the woman actually was.....Shakira

Why do I find this video disturbing?

Unless I'm mistaken, Shakira is almost 50 years old.....but she looks like a 20 year old in this video.

Now how much plastic surgery she may have had or how much make-up she used for this video shoot is besides the point, but this "forever young" mentality that I'm seeing among a lot of celebrities today is very harmful to psyche of the public.

Most 50 year old women have grey hair, cellulite, can't hop up and down and shake their hips like Shakira.
And there's nothing wrong with that.....most of them are STILL attractive.

When women...especially her fans....see her looking and acting like this at 50, they will wonder why THEY can look and act like her and feel that something is wrong with them.

I saw another video of Kanye West celebrating his 49th birthday.
He had no grey in his beard and not only was he bald but it didn't look as if his hair was thinning.
49 looking like he did at 29.

Nothing is wrong with this is it's now NATURAL for people in their middle ages to maintain the same looks as they did at 20 and 25, but we know most people don't and it's negatively affecting the self esteem of their fans....especially those who are around their age who age with them.

Get outta here! 50 is the new 30.

And why would a woman be negatively affected by her ageless idol rather than positively inspired. That's why she's a fan!

1 hour ago, aka Contrarian said:

Get outta here! 50 is the new 30.

Does Mr. Grey Hair, Mr. Arthritis, and Mr. High Blood pressure know that?

When a 50 year old acquires these problems does it BAFFLE the doctors of today and make headline news because these are problems that nobody should be getting at just 50 years of age?

"I'm only 75.....I shouldn't have this much grey hair.
I want to look like Shakira!"

Speak for yourself. You obviously know nothing about the state of womanhood in the year 2026

4 minutes ago, aka Contrarian said:

Speak for yourself. You obviously know nothing about the state of womanhood in the year 2026

You've known nothing about the state of womanhood since you made your "transition".

And you know nothin aboutmanhood since they turned you out in jail

20 minutes ago, aka Contrarian said:

And you know nothin aboutmanhood since they turned you out in jail

🤔 -"aboutmanhood"

Is that a new word?
Is that Arabic?

Yes it is Arabic. It means you know nothing about nothing.

Plastic surgery & body transformations ( injections) & hair implants to name a few things that are big business because people don't want to put in ths work (diet & exercise) to get in shape naturally & age gracefully.

Low self-esteem is the only reason any seasoned woman would aspire to look &/or be like Shakira or anyone else.😎

@ProfD I wouldn't say low self-esteem is the only reason. It's not necessarily even a case of wanting to look like somebody else. It's often just a case of wanting to become your "best self"; just as easily a case of self- love, rather than self-hate.

It's presumptuous to suggest that one size fits all when it comes to why a woman decides to improve her appearance.

Men would do well to stop trying to define women. 😉

4 hours ago, aka Contrarian said:

Men would do well to stop trying to define women. 😉

The question is.....
Why do so many women adhere to those definitions?

That fact is, most women's identities revolve around what the men of their society think of them.

@Pioneer1 Thats not a fact, And the only person asking that question is your dumb ass.

9 hours ago, aka Contrarian said:

@ProfD I wouldn't say low self-esteem is the only reason. It's not necessarily even a case of wanting to look like somebody else. It's often just a case of wanting to become your "best self"; just as easily a case of self- love, rather than self-hate.

It's presumptuous to suggest that one size fits all when it comes to why a woman decides to improve her appearance.

Men would do well to stop trying to define women. 😉

I'll stand by my belief that a seasoned woman getting plastic surgery or implants has low self-esteem & I'll add...wasting her money.

Of course, whataver a woman chooses to do to herself &/or with resources is her own business.

That woman probably shouldn't grin & smile in the face of a man like me. I'll see comedic source material in her.🤣😎

@ProfD Those who observe societal behavior have always claimed that women dress to impress other woman, - that they value the opinion of their peers more than men. This has come to be true in other areas, too. When it comes to appearance, they are more fixated on being admired and envied by females more than males, always pricing each others' clothes and checking labels and what stores someone shops at.

I just don't equate self-improvement with low self-esteem. Acknowledging that you're not perfect and electing to improve on what you have, is a positive approach. "Vanity, thy name is 'woman'."

17 hours ago, ProfD said:

I'll stand by my belief that a seasoned woman getting plastic surgery or implants has low self-esteem & I'll add...wasting her money.

Sometimes even well seasoned meat needs to be trimmed up from time to time...lol.
....and if the meat is too lean it often needs to be marbled to enhance the flavor...lol.

@Pioneer1 I had no idea Shakira was 49. She looks GREAT! Shoot, she looks great for a 30-year-old!

I have no clue what she may have done to her body. But she is of course wearing makeup and surely the video was edited to enhance her appearance. This is par for the course and no one involved in the production is considering the impact on the self-esteem of the viewer--nor should they. Their concern is to make a good video and I think they accomplished that.

The viewer should be knowledgeable enough not to judge themselves by the images seen in magazines and on the screen -- the models themselves don't look like the images of themselves.

Finally, 49 is not THAT old man. Now I won't say 49 is the new 30, but you should not be broken down at that age. Here is a video of me at 49. Now I appreciate most people could not do this move at any age, but I was a D1 gymnast. and I was in shape most of my life.

Shikira has been wiggling her fine booty for decades; of course she is gonna be better at it than your typical 50-year-old Besides her JOB is to look good .

Troy

Now you KNOW you didn't really have to post that video....lol.

I think you were just trying to show off and was looking for any opportunity to post it.

You probably were showing off even back in your school days, and that's why that one cat got angry with you and tried to steal your flute and ran off with it.

Talking about he was "just playing" when you caught up with him, lol.

Anyway.....

Finally, 49 is not THAT old man. Now I won't say 49 is the new 30, but you should not be broken down at that age. Here is a video of me at 49.

Ofcourse 49 isn't old, but it's well within what we'd call "middle age".

Shakira is attractive no doubt, but she doesn't look like what a typical middle aged woman (of any race) looks like.

It's an unrealistic image being promoted.

As for YOU, still being able to do that at 49 is certainly a wonderful feat.

Actually, being able to do that at ANY age is remarkable!

I met a few gymnasts and they had muscles like steel cables.

Thanks for reminding us of your Youtube channel btw....

I forgot AALBC even had one.

You need to start doing lives.

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

I think you were just trying to show off and was looking for any opportunity to post it.

And what? That is what the internet is for now right 😜

12 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

It's an unrealistic image being promoted.

Of course it is, But that has always been what entertainment is about If Shakira was your run-of-the-mill 50 years old, who would want to see that?

12 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

You need to start doing lives.

Maybe so. but I will not be the one doing them. I've had a YouTube account since before Google took it over 20 years ago. I have no interest in providing YouTube with free content and trying to monetize it.

On 6/23/2026 at 8:57 AM, Troy said:

Of course it is, But that has always been what entertainment is about If Shakira was your run-of-the-mill 50 years old, who would want to see that?

Right. Entertainment is designed to sell to its customers/consumers.

In fact, run-of-the-mill 50+ women will see someone like Shakira & spend their money on cosmetics & plastic surgery & anything else that makes them feel more beautiful.

Everything fuels capitalism & consumerism. Always follow the money. 😎

4 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Everything fuels capitalism & consumerism.

True dat.

Troy

If Shakira was your run-of-the-mill 50 years old, who would want to see that?

ME

I actually prefer the natural look to the artificial made-up look that Hollywood promotes.

I'm not saying I'd prefer some broken down old hag who looks like she just survived a nuclear holocaust; but if a woman is 50 years old and nothing is sagging on her, no cellulite, and no grey hair....I'd be a little insecure (yes I admit it) about being with her anyway.

She looks too young and I'd be constantly concerned with too much competition from other men trying to snatch her up.

She'd have to have atleast SOMETHING about her physically that says she's over 40 and ripe for the picking....lol.

On 6/24/2026 at 4:49 PM, Pioneer1 said:

I actually prefer the natural look to the artificial made-up look that Hollywood promotes.

LOL! you don't! Shoot, I doubt you wanna see a regular woman all natural

So you wanna see warts and all huh? puckered hips, flabby stomachs, bat wings, hair everywhere -- most of it grey, bald spots, scars, keloids, moles age spots, wrinkles....

If that is what people clamored for that is what we would get.

2 hours ago, Troy said:

So you wanna see warts and all huh? puckered hips, flabby stomachs, bat wings, hair everywhere -- most of it grey, bald spots, scars, keloids, moles age spots, wrinkles....

D8mn bro...you paint a mean picture of 50+ year old women.🤣

Thankfully, there's quite a few Black women 50+ who have held up well & gravity has not betrayed them. They look great for their age.😎

24 minutes ago, ProfD said:

D8mn bro...you paint a mean picture of 50+ year old women.🤣

LOL....I was about to say.

It seems that our brother needs to GET OUT of Florida if the 50 year old women down there are full of warts, balding with grey hair, bat wings, and no teeth in their mouth!!!

Maybe all that sunlight and heat is drying them out and turning them into human prunes...lol.

Come up here to Michigan and I can show you some BAD ass women in their 60s and 70s!

I work with one sista from the Congo who is 63, a grand mother, 7 kids, no wrinkles, and not a stretch mark on her.....and I know, lol.

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

no teeth in their mouth

Here we go, exaggerating putting words in my mouth, I didn’t say anything about missing teeth 😜

2 hours ago, ProfD said:

D8mn bro...you paint a mean picture of 50+ year old women.🤣

Glad y’all don’t take everything so seriously but the point I’m making is people wanna see 50 year-old women who look like Shakira not Monique (the comedian). Nothing wrong with Monique but she looks more like the typical black woman her age than Shakira and then of course we’re looking at the digitally enhanced makeup wearing version of Shakira.

12 hours ago, Troy said:

Glad y’all don’t take everything so seriously but the point I’m making is people wanna see 50 year-old women...

As the resident comedian in addition to agnostic, I can find the hunor in everything. 😁

That includes finding humor in @richardmurray posts too.🤣😎

Troy

Here we go, exaggerating putting words in my mouth, I didn’t say anything about missing teeth

Well shit, man......

If she's got flabby batwing arms, her grey hair is balding and falling out, and she's all wrinkled up looking like she spent half the day in a cold bath tub....missing teeth would be a given!

I wouldn't expect for somebody in THAT condition you described, to have 2 full rows of healthy white teeth, lol.

the point I’m making is people wanna see 50 year-old women who look like Shakira not Monique (the comedian). Nothing wrong with Monique but she looks more like the typical black woman her age than Shakira

I agree with this statement.

MOST PEOPLE would find Shakira more attractive than Mo'nique.

However I actually would RATHER date and sleep with Mo'nique over Shakira.

I'd feel more comfortable being around her.

Doesn't matter how attractive a woman is, if I don't feel comfortable being around her for whatever reason........

@Troy

Kind of curious as to your health from years of gymnastics.

Not sure what kind of shape you're in now, but you looked pretty healthy for a 49 year old in that video.

Do you have any arthritis or joint problems from all those years of activity?

Also, I'm sure much of it was from practice but do you believe you were genetically gifted to be able to perform such feats?

I think gifted gymnasts are born. I wasn’t a gifted gymnast. I could compete at the college level, but I would never be on the Olympic team.

I’ve had a couple of knee surgeries that might be related to the sport, but I don’t know.

I consider myself out of shape now, but that’s probably due to my age and being more sedentary than I’ve been in my entire life. Like I said in another post, I’ve spent most of my free time messing around with my website and AI over the past six months. I take walks, But I drink eat too much too.

That said I can still do a few handstand push-ups ;-)