Men ageing vs women.

crazyH

Men age better than women. A grey haired man looks ‘distinguished’ - a grey haired woman looks ‘old’

... erm, I beg to disagree.

I've seen more than enough grey-haired men with their T shirts pushed out by their paunches, baseball caps on the wrong way round.

Or dressed in tight, badly fitted suits for their changing shape (men change shape too).

'Distinguished' men have probably always looked so, along with elegant grey-haired women.

Oh Elfies

Just wish my terminally ill husband could have the opportunity to age a little longer ...............whatever he looks like

I can now look at young gorgeous men and know if they’re going to age well. I guess it’s all down to bone structure. I mean, who would have thought, back in the day, that Ringo Starr would age better than Paul?Going off at a it of a tangent ( but not worth starting a new thread about) I saw that one of my favourite actresses, Jennifer Lawrence, had become a mother and, nit recognising the name of her partner I googled him and was surprised to find that he wasn’t very good looking. A relative of mine who was quite nerdy when young became a silver fox in middle age. On the subject of how women age I bumped into Miriam Stoppard a few years ago and she literally had the skin of a twenty year old. On tv it looks as though she’s had lots of work done but it’s all down to healthy eating and sun protection.

I have a theory that the more feminine looking men - which includes quite a few of the teenage heart throbs - age more badly than the manly looking types . I am guessing that the heart throb you mention was one of these with quite feminine features? I've seen a couple recently and was quite shocked how much they had aged . I suppose the more rugged type of men tend to have a beard and good muscle tone ? Well that's my little theory anyway !

To me the main problem with ageing is not either looks or how either sex is perceived, but about the rate at which the two sexes slow down.

Men, not only my husband, but most of the men I know or know of, reach the age of 60 something and slow down to an alarming extent.

However active they have been formerly, their retirement consists of sitting on their backsides watching Netflix.

Any job around the house or garden they start is left half or quarter done for weeks and weeks, nothing is ever put away, and to cap it all, a new project gets started before the old one was finished. If that is, they ever do get off their sofa.

Why?

Women as a general rule finish what they started, even if it takes longer now than it did when we were 20.

Wrinkles, greying hair, false teeth okay, just give me sixpence worth of gumption in the opposite sex.

Grey/white hair has never been considered unflattering in a man, while it has been until recently for women, now many have stopped colouring their hair. Same with lines and wrinkles, they never bothered men the same as they do women. Women were valued for their looks, men for their wealth.

I just think some men never think of themselves as old, they look in the mirror and see nothing wrong despite being overweight. I think men are far more confident with aging than women. My oh certainly never thinks his trousers or shirts are tight because of weight gain. He started shaving his hair off 30 years ago (think Jason Statham) so no grey and he never ever says anything negative about his appearance.

I think the important thing as we age is to dress well. My mum was smartly dressed as a young woman but as she got older she just wore stretchy trousers and cardigans. I thought she looked sloppy. Older people can look good as long as they are clean and tidily dressed in reasonably modern clothes.

Ali Mc Graw .. a poster girl for beauty in age, apparently unenhanced.

I think that Cary Grant aged well. He was always handsome even in his latter years. ??

I think most evolved people do appreciate the beauty of older people. The original post suggests a level of judgement of others that I don't experience or witness in real life. It also suggests that most people care very much about appearances and I think most people are too busy getting on with their life to care about 'injectables' and who has had them or whether women with grey hair are 'crones' or whether pop stars age well. Who knows what a person goes through in life and the toll it takes on them.

Personally I am happy as I am. I'm very lucky to be healthy and my body still does the things I ask of it. What a gift that is.

I am not too bothered about looks. Personality is what counts.
However my daughter , who is applying for life insurance, has just told me how grateful she is that neither of her parents have any serious health issues!

In looks my DH has aged well.
I think that all be it is grey and almost white, a full head of thick hair helps.
He has a clipped beard which hides any possible lines around the mouth .
When dressed up he looks very handsome, however since retirement he has a new hobby that requires warmth and several layers of clothes (he feels the cold now).

In comparison I have lost weight over 3 stone through healthy and joining the gym, but sadly it shows in my face and loose skin on my arms.
I'm healthy and quite fit for my age now.
I feel I will have to put up with my thin face with lines that were virtually non existent pre weight loss.
Wish it was the norm for female beards!

Oopsadaisy1

You only have look to notice young women with older single/divorced/widowed men, who often have their own homes, ACs gone from home.

I know of 2 couples, the young wives left the older husbands as soon as their joint children left school.
With half of their assets.

Very rarely have I seen a much younger man with an older lady.

I have.
A young man will usually target an older women when he realises she has her own home and a good pension.
Over on MN these freeloaders are known as Cocklodgers
Sadly, the older woman is flattered and kids herself that the young man is attracted to her and " I can still pull younger men!"
But sadly it's her financial security that's doing most of the pulling

Gosh, to try and answer the OP I don’t think there’s much to rectify in my real life, media is another matter and driven by a far larger age demographic.
I don’t see the majority of men I encounter as unkempt, or not aged well, there are a few, but not many.
I suppose we could discuss what ‘not aged well’ actually means.
Society has changed, the majority of people wear what used to be termed leisure wear, jeans predominately in my circle. Having said that on the rare occasion when it’s required, everyone ‘scrubs up well’, grey hair, balding or not.

I don't think its possible to generalise on the basis of sex, it's down to so many factors, genetics and lifestyle choices included. And I really can't agree crazyH that women with grey hair look old. I wear my (still dark) hair in a chin length bob and I'm longing for it to turn that wonderful steely grey or even silver for that matter. IMO it looks so elegant

crazyH

Men age better than women. A grey haired man looks ‘distinguished’ - a grey haired woman looks ‘old’

Unfortunately for men they can also lose their hair. I appreciate that some women can also lose their hair.

Bald headed men always look older than their years to me. Not every man suits the fully shaved look that some men seem to go for if they have lost their hair on top. Personally, I think it looks a bit thuggish. I sympathise with Prince William. He is very handsome but lost his hair at quite a young age. He would look much more handsome and younger with a full head of hair.

I am not sure who the OP is talking about but there is an actor/singer who was very cute in the 80's - blonde curls/lovely smile. He has lost most of his hair. I didn't even recognise him when he was on tv a while ago.

The problem with male pop star teenage heart-throbs is when young they were invariably very good looking with a full head of hair, and then we may not see them for decades when all of a sudden they're 70.

It's not that they haven't aged-well, just that they've aged!

Men age better than women. A grey haired man looks ‘distinguished’ - a grey haired woman looks ‘old’

In Italy older women are still treated with charm and respect, they don’t become invisible!

Anyway I’d just like the chance to age a bit more …

Annoyingly, age has been kinder to Mr Dog than to me, too. And he's older than me ?.

He was/is never the type to be vain, either, and is not of the moisturising or self-care generation - a shower every day and a bit of aftershave on special occasions is the extent of his 'routine'.

Still, I get to look at him, but he has to look at me, so it's not all bad . . . ?

BigBertha and paddyann54 posted while I was composing mine - obviously their husbands (and mine) are not part of the problem!

It strikes me that women are often worrying about their weight and diets of various sorts are frequent subjects of conversation. Just look around, and see how many men are seriously overweight! I bet they don't spend a lot of time thinking how to deal with it.

My husband looks great ,people often refuse to believe he has children in their mid forties and mid thirties.He dresses well ,has thick curly hair ,good teeth and I'm very happy to be seen with him.He did worki n a job where image was important and always wanted to look his best
My daughter says she always liked older men ,people like Peirce Brosnan or George Clooney but her Dad looks equally as good as them if not better and her friends all say the same .
He did look very like Cat Stevens when I married him ,Cat Stevens had aged very well too