PBS高端访谈:如何让你青春永驻（在线收听）

JOHN YANG: In our youth-obsessed society, there is a multibillion-dollar industry to fight the signs of aging. Most of the advertising, warnings and messaging is directed at women. But women don't have to take the bait. Tonight, an American in Paris shares her Humble Opinion on how to age gracefully.

PAMELA DRUCKERMAN, Author There Are No Grown-Ups: I have never been beautiful, but, in my 20s, I discovered my superpower. I looked young. In my 30s, I moved to France and waiter still called me mademoiselle. When I turned 40, I thought it's true that everyone eventually gets the face she deserves. And what I deserve obviously is a permanently youthful glow. But then I had what the French call a (SPEAKING FRENCH) an age glow. Waiters started calling me madame. I was shocked. My plan had been to look as young as possible for as long as possible. Look, I know this sounds ridiculous. I'm an educated, modern feminist, but I wasn't alone. For a lot of middle-class American women, that's the strategy. So when madame happened, I only saw a few options. Spend the rest of my life pining to look 35 again, or gradually start to say that I feel much younger inside, or it's great to reach the age where I don't care what anyone thinks. None of these were appealing or even true. And I noticed that my French girlfriends took a different approach to becoming madame.

They explained that instead of trying and failing to look permanently young, they aspired to be the best version of the age that they are. They kept saying that they want to be (SPEAKING FRENCH) comfortable in their own age. French women do point out that the nature of beauty changes as you age. By your 40s, you look like you have a story, but that story can become part of your allure. We're drawn to an older woman not because she's unlined and perfect, but because she's unique. A Parisian in her 60s told me, the beauty is to see someone's humanity. We don't want to look like we came out of a box. We're not frozen. We're alive. To age gracefully, in other words, is to show who you are. And you can't do this if you're terrified. I haven't flipped a switch and started to age like a French woman. Heck, not all French women age like from women. I do still secretly hope bartenders will ask for my I.D. But just naming my cultural assumptions takes away some of their power, and deciding how I'm going to age feels like a very adult act. Maybe that's my new superpower.

约翰·杨：在崇尚年轻的社会里，大家都不惜斥重资抵抗衰老的迹象。大多数广告、警告、信息都是直指女性的。但女性朋友们不一定要听之信之。今晚，身在巴黎的一位美国女性同胞将与我们分享她关于如何优雅地变老的真知灼见。

帕梅拉·德拉克曼，《青春永驻》作者：我虽然长得不美，但我20多岁的时候，却发现了自己的超能量——我年轻啊。30多岁的时候，我搬去了法国，服务员还是叫我小姐。我40岁的时候，以为每个人都会得到与自己相称的容颜。显然，与我相称的容颜便是青春永驻。但后来我也开始变老。服务员开始换我夫人的时候，我是震惊的。我打算让自己在尽可能长的时间里看起来年轻。呵，就连我自己也知道是痴人说梦。我是受过教育的现代女性，像我这样的女性还有很多。对于很多中产阶级的美国女性来说，这便是我们的策略。所以当别人唤我们作夫人的时候，我认为可以有几种做法。在接下来的余生里始终对回到35岁的容颜痴迷一般渴望，也可以慢慢改为说自己内心年轻，亦或开始不再在意别人眼中的我是多大。这些选项我都不喜欢，也不符合实情。后来，我发现我的法国女友们对于被唤作夫人这件事采取了另一番做法。

他们的观点是：与其为看起来青春永驻而做无用功，他们更看渴望做当下最好的自己。他们一直认为自己想要在当下的年龄段活得舒心。法国女性确实指出，美丽的本真是随着年龄的增长而做出相应的改变。40岁的时候，看起来就是个有故事的人，但有故事也可以为你增添韵味。年龄大一些的女性吸引我们的点并不在于她面容光滑、身姿绰约，而是因为她独一无二。一位60多岁的巴黎女友对我说，美丽是看得见的人性。我们不希望自己是千篇一律的模样。我们不是木头人，是鲜活的生命。以优雅的方式变老，换言之，就是展现真正的自己。如果心怀畏惧，是做不到的。我已经开始这样做了，像法国女星那般优雅地面对年龄的增长。讨厌啊，不是所有的法国女性都会从容地变老。而且我内心也偷偷希望调酒师会来与我搭讪。但按文化预设特质后就会剥夺女性的力量，而决定怎样变老像是成年人才会做的事情。或许这就是我新的超能力吧。