Yoko Ono: Speaking Out on Acting Her Age

By Gary Geyer There was a time that just about everything Yoko said or did was controversial * or offended somebody. Apparently that still holds true. A few years back, New York Magazine ran their ?Spring Fashion? issue. In it were some photographs of Yoko Ono with a caption that read, ?The Surprisingly Sexy Septuagenarian? One of the photos featured Yoko in, what used to be called, hot-pants. A letter was written to a columnist for Canada?s Globe and Mail by a woman who signed it, ?Bewildered Bette.? It read: "I recently saw a fashion spread in New York Magazine featuring Yoko Ono, a septuagenarian, in denim short shorts. What kind of message is this giving to older women? And does anyone seriously expect a seventy-something to follow suit? I thought the concept was downright scary.? Yoko replied: ??Some people seem to be offended by my personal style. I'm totally flabbergasted by the reaction my hot pants outfit has created. Why do females and males of our species want to look good? Because we want to feel good ourselves, make other people feel good about us, and make our family feel good about us. My two kids are happy the way I am. They don't want to see me depressed, unkempt, and feeling not good about myself. You might say that I am being too superficial. The beauty of the spirit and the mind is all we need. Really? Then I must be a different species from you. I like dressing up and looking nice. I like having fun with clothes. Why not? Scary? I doubt it. What is this ?it's scary that she is wearing hot pants at her age?? The columnist replied to Bewildered Bette: "She probably will not go out on the street like that." Well, I don't know about that. I will, if I felt like it one day! If I did, why would it be scary for you? Scary is a very strange word to use to express your feeling of the possibility of seeing me on the street with hot pants, isn't it? She could be concerned that I will be vulnerable to physical attackers -- but somehow I don't think that's her reason. Getting the ?wrong? idea. I was brought up by a mother who thought I should not dress too sharply because people may get the wrong idea. Nice women don't wear sharp dresses. My father wore a tweed jacket until he died. My mother wore a skirt which was always long enough to hide her beautiful knees! What to wear. So -- Is there some uniform that a person over 50 should wear, or 60 or 70? People used to openly express their disdain to see me come into restaurants having a big tummy when I was pregnant with [my son] Sean. I looked around, and discovered that there were no pregnant women in any public places in those days. That one, it seems, is over now. This time, it's old people, is it? We cannot wear what we used to wear when we were 18? Why? People over 50. There are so many of us on our planet. In fact, statistically, there are more of us than people under 50 now. We are the ones who toiled, held up the sky, and waited for you to appear on the scene to join us. We are the ones who have some knowledge acquired through our experience to give you, so you don't have to make the same mistakes we made. I think you still need us, darlings! Just know that we want to feel good, as well. Just like you do. There is no difference between us, except you will get where we are after us and not before. Give us the respect and freedom you expect to get when you are at our stage of life.? * Early Controversy Yoko was an innovator in both conceptual art and performance art. An example of her performance art is "Cut Piece", during which she sat on stage and invited the audience to use scissors to cut off her clothing until she was naked. Yoko was also an experimental filmmaker. She gained particular renown for a 1966 film called "No. 4," (often referred to as "Bottoms.") The film consists of close-ups of people?s bare buttocks as their ?owners? walk on a treadmill. The crack between the cheeks and the crease between the buttock and the leg divide the screen into four almost equal sections. Yoko Quotes: ?I saw that nothing was permanent. You don't want to possess anything that is dear to you because you might lose it.?

? Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.? ? I wonder why men get serious at all. They have this delicate, long thing hanging outside their bodies which goes up and down by its own will. If I were a man I would always be laughing at myself.? <<

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