Do you feel ignored and invisible as you age?
YES.
That seems to be the consensus on the part of many women.
“Men don’t look at you in the eye, and young people don’t notice that you exist.”
“My mum calls it “invisible woman syndrome.”
Is it the nature of men as visual creatures that brings on this syndrome? Perhaps. But why do other women look past older women too? Are we all hard wired to be attracted to superficial beauty?
Now I ask. Who says forty is old? How many women do you know who don’t come into their own until they reach that landmark? They have discovered and matured in their careers- life passions have been discovered and they know what they like. Gals past traditional youth take no sh*t and have the life experience to have seasoned opinions that often ring true.
How beautiful are the women who run our offices, serve us our food, walk along our city streets with panache and style? How often do you see a woman of twenty with real individual class? Cookie cutter models?
All good things take time to mature---women are no different.
Women of today can and do look ageless for decades. We are the generation of the plastic surgeon, yes—but we are also the well-read women of the twenty first century who know how to stay fit and live our lives in balance. It is the first time in history when affluence yields slender. The educated and professional woman knows how to buy healthy food and prepare it simply. She does not avail herself of frequent cheap fast food, she exercises and keeps her skin protected from the sun. No longer is it a sign of affluence to be obese. How the times they have changed.
We are the generation of less is more. Less stress, less calories, less sun equals more quality of life. All this boils down to some fine looking forty plus. Fifty never looked so good either. And I’ve a feeling that sixty is going to be considered sexier than any time in history. The boomers are leading the way into a midlife and beyond of robust good health and vigor.
The forty something woman who said:
“People treat me with respect. Perhaps I have more confidence.”
…understating the obvious.
“There are 45 year old women who take care of themselves (working out, eating right, non smokers) who look amazing and some 25 year olds who tan every day (face looks like leather) chain smoke and look gross. Vice versa there are some really amazing looking 25 year olds and not so great 45 year olds.”
YES.
“My mom is over forty…She turns heads everywhere she goes. I think one of the most beautiful things about her, is that she doesn't know that she is beautiful. She keeps her mind and body fit, she laughs a lot...and when she starts laughing, you can't HELP but join her.”
It’s the way she carries herself. Women of mid life have a confident sway of the hips and square of the shoulders. That is the stuff of allure. More importantly it is the ingredient of respect that people seldom talk about.
Self respect.
Self-confidence.
The style and class that come with experience.
Do people look through older women? Sure they do. If those women have not lived lives that yield the magnetic quality only a life well lived can echo. It’s the resonance of surety, the draw of developed sense of self. The knowledge that the best is yet to come and she will be the purveyor.
The secret agent of stability.
The magistrate of wisdom.
The curator of class.
The guardian of sex appeal.
The mature woman.
