Article on older women, ageism and feminism

I am nervous about any essential surgery, so having something done for vanity that is not essential is beyond my comprehension.

although I wouldn't mind having my eyes done

Nicola Sturgeon is much younger than us, though - although she has improved her rather dumpy plain looks by losing weight, having a new hair cut and wearing smarter clothes.
thinks .....

N----- S----------!!!! I can't even say the name. Ugh!!!!!!

Oh dear, what a depressing article! I have just spoken on ageing at a conference in Montenegro entitled Well Over 50, organised by The Age of Happiness. The people, mostly women, I met were an absolute inspiration, from a 97 year old yoga master who still dances every day & wears high heels to a 55 year old living in the Arctic with her Eskimo husband and dances on ice! None of them are slipping away slowly & silently and none of them had any surgical intervention! There's no need to take the attitude of the author of that pessimistic article. We are at an age where we can be and do anything we like and I for one feel vibrant, healthy & certainly not useless & invisible! This is one of the best times of my life, in my 60s. More on my blog:http://www.alternativeageing.net that I hope will inspire. Meanwhile, I will be writing for Gransnet soon. Suzi x

I think the author is betraying her own attitude to age. Clinging on by her fingernails, crossing over to the dark side.

The trouble with many articles in the press is that they are written by people who live in their own bubble but write as if they are speaking for all of us.

I'm looking forward to reading your article Suzi.

I have to agree that I don't think feminism and ageism are the same thing.

I also want note that Maggie Smith and Judi Dench are the same age, and I think Judi is looking increasingly fab-u-lous.

It is my belief that Ms Lumley started turning the calendar back a very long time ago, and therefore, yes she certainly does look great for her age.

Lastly, I was so angered by the first sentence of the article, I stopped reading right there!! What an incredibly RUDE and short sighted person. I believe older women ARE exploited to their FULL worth, because everyone knows their value, but most people often won't admit how valuable that is.

By the way, I don't truly consider middle 60's to be SO old.

I am 79 , my grouse about being old is I have become invisible!! Anyone else noticed this happening? Perhaps I should wear purple, do not yet have a stick to drag along railings and don' t think I could spit!

My favourite role model for older women is Sheila Hancock. She is so intelligent, articulate and confident, and always looks so elegant. She is nearer 80 than 70, but doesn't look it, though I'm guessing she hasn't gone down the surgery route. It's just that she's such an interesting person you don't think of categorising her as one age or another.

oh I think Judi Dench is rather chic and that the drapey-hippy look suits her very well.
MargaretX there is a bit more to it than that. Daughters and sons should have a level playing field without one gender doing more than half share of housework and child work. And without one gender being pressured to spend an extra half an hour a day and extra money making themselves look a certain way to get on in the workplace. And when women are not the victims of so much male-female violence.
Invisibility sets in when hair and features become less prominent perhaps. Faces become a bit blurred and some of our facial expressions less noticeable. I have been tinting my fading eyebrows for a while now and since the formula for the dye changed and became more fiddly, discovered i can have it done in the local beautician for £8 every couple of months. phew. Red lipstick is another anti-invisibility device.
I have noticed in recent years that older men also become invisible to me... Interesting.

Jess you are preaching to the converted with me! I thought you knew me better from the beginning when we all posted more than now.
My post was quick and I picked on the one salient point which was uppermost in my mind.

I wear make up, I like it but am often the only woman wearing lipstick in any group in Germany, mine is pale and my daughters wear lipstick for special occasions but neither of them wear make up for work nor do they work with women wearing make up.
Could be that German women have lovely tanned skins well into the winter months, but my agegroup almost never wear make up.

Sorry - did not mean to offend Margaretx and hope you are well.
Yes GN was very chummy in the early days when it was small enough that we all felt knew each other.
I've have yet to spot another woman of my age wearing red lipstick in this neck of the woods. Which is rather out on the fringes of the UK. I think make up can be a way of cheering oneself up, as long as it is not something people feel they have to do to please others or conform. You see a lot of young women these days in UK who are obviously feeling pressured to adhere to a very demanding standard - the large silicon implants, the false eyelashes, the hair extensions, the nail extensions etc.

I think red lipstick can look rather garish and clown-like on some older faces - it probably depends on your skin tone but as I've hardly ever worn lipstick a red shade would be a step too far for me!

I agree that some of our facial features tend to lose definition with age, and would never go out without wearing foundation and eye makeup (especially the eyebrow gel).

I've never thought about it before but it's true - older men have become 'invisible' to me as well...

Nobody is obligated to make their faces up or look younger.Its choice.
Judy Dench always looks lovely.I love her.

So as an older man I have become invisible to Ana! Farewell, cruel world.

JessM mentioned it first, grumppa!

Anyway, I'd probably be invisible to you, too...

Okay Nicola Sturgeon isn't an older woman, but at 45 she is only 10 years younger than me and getting close to when the media will start referring to her as an older woman. My point is she looks good and dresses well, plus I like that she doesn't look high maintenance. I am not an SNP supporter, I was just trying to think of a woman in the public eye doing a worthwhile job who looks good. It's not that easy.

Don't get me wrong, I like Judy and Maggie, but I would never aspire to look like them at their age. They do look natural though, unlike Joanna or Joan. I like how Twiggy looks in her M&S campaigns, it's just a shame she doesn't look like that in real life and allows her photos to be so heavily photoshopped. Lorraine Kelly and Gloria Hunniford look good to me.

I think red lipstick is hard for any woman to wear well, no matter what age and I cringe when I see a woman wearing red lipstick that clashes with her teeth. Can't believe I am typing this, but the shade of your teeth is as important as your skin tone when choosing a lipstick.

Pfffft - we're all much too busy looking after our future generations to worry about a few wrinkles and saggy bits.
Slap on a bit of Nivea, keep smiling, and let nature take it's course!

And without one gender being pressured to spend an extra half an hour a day and extra money making themselves look a certain way to get on in the workplace

Only certain types of work I think.

JessM. For someone who is anti women having to wear makeup, you seem to wear it and care about it more than average I would say.

Nobody is obligated to make their faces up or look younger.Its choice.

I quite agree.

Must admit I don't mind getting older, but I try not to be frumpy.

If I look as good as my Mum does when I am her age, that would be great.

Does anyone remember the actress who played the "old Rose" in the film Titanic? Now, there was beauty.

But also, who among us really cares? I wasn't beautiful when I was young – a plain child, a gawky teenager and an attractive enough (just) young woman with a good figure and terrific legs. I still have terrific legs but the good figure, while continuing to be the same size in clothes, has travelled somewhat south and become rather lumpy owing to several sessions of emergency surgery. The brain, however, has become more informed, the experience has modified ideas and opinions, the love for grandchildren has extended the love not just to absentdaughter but to many others s well and qualities in myself that I believed important then I still believe important and they have grown and expanded.

If people fail to recognise the value of these things, that is their loss, not mine.

Presumably the 'we' in the OP refers to society not valuing older women. I really don't care what 'society' thinks of me personally, so long as those close to me, family and friends, continue to 'value' me.

I expect that goes for most of us.

Obviously not understood my posts Soontobe. I can only suggest you re-read my last one.

Most of us dont seem to need make-up to cheer ourselves up. Though I appreciate that everyone is different.

I never wear makeup,only lipstick.Im fussy with my hair though.As long as I can stay healthy,that's the most important thing,(fingers crossed)

Slap on a bit of Nivea, keep smiling, and let nature take it's course!
nannanoo Thank you for that memory of my DM whose sole concession to 'beauty' that was, on very rare occasions supplemented by red lipstick and a dab of rouge
I find putting make up on definitely lifts my mood and dare I say it, in some situations, my confidence.

Like Jane , I like to wear make-up but I also dye my hair.
I had decided to stop dyeing it until a recent incident changed my mind.
I was on a coach trip with a group of white haired ladies.
One evening after we had had our dinner and I was about to leave the restaurant and join the others in the lounge for coffee, the young waitress who had served our table came up to me with a shawl and asked if I could point out the lady who owned it, she then added "I don't know which one she is THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME TO ME.
Needless to say I still dye my hair.