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Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,326
Registered: ‎10-21-2011

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

[ Edited ]

You know the answer to that. 

 

Not all of us keep our figure. Not all of us stay smooth and unwrinkled. Hair gets thin, tummys bulge and legs get bumpy or veined.

 

Our eyelids droop and get crepey. Our lips get lined. The neck can sag like a turkey's wattle. 

 

Health may have rubbed the gloss off our skin. Childbirth, work, and just plain living have left deep marks. 

 

But all this is considered distatesful when comparied to the slim celebrities and supermodels and other pretty people photoshopped in pictures who are blessed with incredibly good looks--and are in real life as rare as a 2 buck bill in your change.

 

We worship youth and we scorn the ravages of age, discounting wisdom, skill, a developed personality with emotional intelligence and the learning that only life experience can give us. 

 

We are not given atention in stores unless our handbag screams "She's got MONEY." We are ridiculed on websites with political candidates out of favor with the elites while they run for office (HuffPo today. They need a whuppin.) See? See the old bag that So-and-So is hugging? Deplorable. 

 

We are invisible. 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

@Campion When we are in Pittsburgh in the summers I do find that older folks do seem to be invisible to waitresses and clerks but where we live the remainder of the year in Fl. I do not see it that way at all. There are almost all seniors in our small Florida town, and it seems the younger people are more accustommed to us than up in Pa.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,016
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

Well......personally, I get tired of hearing about how were suppose to love ourselves and embrace the place were at and blah, blah, blah, blah........then, you turn on the Q and all I hear is......this will hide this and cover that and elongate here.....and then a beauty show comes on and this device will lift this and smooth out that and hide the visible signs of whatever......the constant mixed messages from the time we're old eough to understand is the reason why itt gets harder and harder to embrace ourselves where we're at in our lives.........oh, almost forgot.....once you get to a certain age, men seem to look past you instead of at you....usually at someone younger. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,172
Registered: ‎11-15-2011

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

I live in an area that is literally invaded by Snowbirds who come down here to play in the sun all Winter.

 

I never hear the word OLD used.  Who talks about it?  

 

We are people who have retired  and are still very active and enjoying life.

 

Now there is time to enjoy your life not to sit around talking about how old you are, how many wrinkles you have or how much you might hurt!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,347
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

Apparently it is.  Just read the beauty threads where details of cosmetic surgery and miracle wrinkle creams are touted.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,702
Registered: ‎08-22-2013

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

I always thought I looked 10 years younger than my piers, but once I hit 65 seems like the bottom dropped out. It's not like I'm at deaths door , but it seems that my age has caught up with me. Whether we like to admit it or not, once you hit 65 or so your body starts to let you down. I know people of that age who are in great shape and think they are going to live forever will want to argue, but they know I'm right. That being said, I don't think we should give up and let ourselves go and who cares what the young people think. I had lipstick all outside my lips the other day and no one in my house noticed. When I looked in the mirror and saw the migrated mess I could not believe no one noticed. I asked my son and husband to look at me and did they see anything out of place and they both said no everything looked ok. When I pointed out the migrated lipstick , they said oh yeah now I see it. Talk about feeling invisible. Anyway, I like the little bit of gray hair I have and I do wear it very short. I dress age appropriately and fashionably, but it what it is, but it's better than the alternative.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,905
Registered: ‎06-24-2011

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

Well the way I see it, we are all aging everyday of our lives. I have found we all age differently, but the end result is the same. Genetics play a huge part in how we age. I've always taken care of my skin and tried to dress appropriately for my age or maybe a little younger, but not much. I've been told I look about 10 years younger than I am, but my body ( health wise) says otherwise. Just be yourself and do things to make yourself feel good. Don't worry what other people think, just do the best you can and be happy with yourself.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,803
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

Atrocious to whom?

 

Getting older was never easy and never will be.  But as time has gone on, the meaning of "older" has changed. It no longer applies to someone who happens to be chrnologically more advanced than you. It now is used to describe what we used to call "senior citizens, the elderly or the aged." Those over 65. I think when baby boomers began entering that category, that changed.  You have Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan over hte age of 70. Note that they're all male.

Ageism is often directed towards women. Not fair, I know.

Most of us require "help' to keep our looks. 

 

So sad. Would you have been forever youthful like Diana, Marilyn or Evita? They all died in their 30s?  No chance to become "atrocious." At what price? 

 

AT the end of the day, "atrocious" is someone else's label, created out of fear for the aging process. One good thing about getting older, is that one should no longer care about other people's labels. Just be yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,891
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

In the American culture, yes, "old" is something that is disliked. But baby boomers as a group aren't going down without a fight.

 

Social media is all about getting that person to spend money to emulate someone else's social media life but nobody lives like that in real life. The irony of print media ignoring baby boomers is that they are the buyers of print fashion and beauty magazines. Younger people don't buy print anything. Those print mags are in deep trouble and those mag editors are likely going to be losing their jobs as those magazines fold due to loss of ad revenues. It's digital monetization those beauty and fashion businesses are after so that's why all the social media influencers and celebrities hawking everything via instagram, snapchat, and youtube. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,843
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

post doesn't makle sense-Re: Is it something atrocious to be an 'older woman' ?

Your post doesn't make sense

Please consider re-wording it!