Why Being Called The 'Ageless Generation' Is NOT a Compliment!
Several times recently I've seen and heard women in their 40's and 50's being called the 'Ageless Generation' and I've got to be honest, I really hate it!
Usually it's used in an article or comment about a woman over 40 who is fit and healthy, maybe cooking beautiful food, doing yoga, or hiking a mountain, or wearing jeans and converse boots etc. whilst just going about her day to day life.
And I understand why those who use the phrase think it's a compliment, because these women don't fit their idea of how women over 40 are 'supposed' to act, or are 'supposed' to look, or how women that age are 'supposed' to dress.
But honestly, I don't believe for one second any of that makes these women, or any of us, 'ageless'.
Personally, I think it simply makes them...well, normal women over 40!
Individuals, with individual interests, who happen to be over 40, and who are just getting on with life the way they choose, and ignoring other people's ideas (aka boring, outdated, stereotypes) about how life after 40 is 'supposed' to be.
It doesn't matter what (adult) age you are - if you want to wear jeans and converse boots, fine. You want to go dancing in Ibiza, go for it. You want to start a business, dye your hair bright pink or go completely grey, take up a new hobby, spend hours on Instagram, or go back to school - bring it on! This isn't about being ageless...it's simply about living life the way you choose without being constrained by other people's ideas of how life after 40 should be.
The problem with calling women over 40 'ageless' is that it does away with age all together. In fact worse than that, it yet again implies that youth is the be all and end all of life for women! It is basically saying that being without an age, being ageless, must be way better than being our actual age. And so, our age is completely erased, as if it is a dirty word in some way. It's just more of the same old anti-aging marketing, the '40 is the new 30' or '50 is the new 20' way of trying to sound empowering whilst simultaneously completely dismissing the fact that getting older is just a natural part of life and it's okay to be happy with the age you are and simply get on with actually living your life, instead of worrying about your age. 40 is 40 , 50 is 50 - it doesn't need to be anything else!
I don't know about you but I'm not aiming for ageless, I have no interest in my age being dismissed or erased. I just want to be me, at my own age, living life however the hell I choose.
Because I honestly believe that it's only by happily acknowledging our age that we can show how outdated some people's opinions are about women over 40, it's not by erasing age all together and becoming ageless.
