Newsweek magazine has a fantastic watchdog article posted to their website, with a surprisingly direct attack on Oprah's long history of shoddy medical advice.  I found this article useful for several reasons - not least being because it helps explain why several recent trends have gained such a huge foothold in the public's mind: ahh, they were on Oprah!  I understand now.

Aside from an avalanche of shoddy pseudo-medical advice (she claims to have cured an unspecified thyroid disorder by taking a month off to relax), Oprah has also fiercely advocated several non-surgical cosmetic improvement techniques, without mentioning the possible harm or side effects.  When they later turn out to be harmful, excruciatingly painful, and/or ineffective, Oprah fails to circle back and follow up on this.

I can't help but wonder why Oprah has such a hold on women.  I'm sure there are men who follow Oprah, but I have yet to meet any.  Unquestionably, women form the largest part of her audience.  Oprah, why can't we quit you?

The biggest question is raised by the umbrella term Oprah uses for all of this crackpottery: "Live Your Best Life Ever."  I have a particular bone to pick with Oprah's relentless presentation of cosmetic techniques and products for women over 30.  Shouldn't Oprah be telling us that we are beautiful just the way we are?  As a woman who is herself over 30, as a woman who has made a name for herself by "telling it like it is," tilting at windmills, and fighting the good fight, why isn't Oprah taking a stance against the age-related prejudiced which is so deeply entrenched in our society?

Instead, Oprah feeds her audience's anxieties by promoting ways to look younger.  She trots out Suzanne Somers, another noted medical authority, who trumpets the cause of some whackadoo hormone replacement therapy, and who takes 60 vitamins a day and succeeds only in looking horrifically "well-preserved."  Suzanne Somers applies hormones topically to her arms, and also via syringe to a very special place which I'm sure if you asked, would prefer not to be used as a delivery mechanism for a highly suspect anti-ageing treatment.

If Oprah really wanted to help women, she would drop all this nonsense about how "Your Best Life Ever" means "Look Younger."  I'll tell you what: my hair started going gray when I was 16, and I dyed it regularly for almost 20 years.  I made the decision to stop dyeing about two years ago, had it cut short, and let it grow out. 

I'm about thirty percent gray, and you would think this would make me look old, but the thing is, what age is someone whose hair is thirty percent gray?  We don't even know anymore, because everyone dyes their hair.  As far as I'm concerned, I EARNED this gray hair.  I'm proud of it.  It may not be as "pretty" as it was when I was younger (and dyed it), but I wear it as a badge of experience.  I'm no spring chicken, but I'm also nobody's fool, and I'm sure as heck not buying the crazy nonsense that Oprah is selling.