Excuse Me For Aging

Yesterday I was scrolling through Google News and came across an article about Bridget Fonda. The article and the accompanying photos compared her appearance 20 plus years ago with her appearance today. Bridget and I are about the same age and I associate her movies with my own carefree single self. As a fellow skinny redhead I was told once or twice that I resembled Bridget -- which while not really true, I took as a major compliment. To say I was appalled by the article is an understatement. And it wasn't Bridget's 2022 appearance that I found appalling.

Apparently Bridget's great sin was to walk around in her very normal 58 year old body wearing shlumpy clothes while running errands. And for that heinous crime, some imbecile on Twitter renamed this accomplished wife, actress and mother as "Bridget Fonda Pastries." This all comes on the heels of the recent age shaming of the cast of Sex & The City. And if these women are seen as ugly -- what hope is there for the rest of us mere mortals?

I think a more interesting question is why is this ridiculing of middle-aged women and their appearance occurring now? What about fifty-something women is so threatening? Is it the fact that after a long hard journey women are (finally) making inroads in professions and positions in society that had been closed to us? Or is it something more insidious? Is attacking women's appearance still a "safe" prejudice? After all, who needs to feel bad about mocking an overweight over-the-hill "Karen"? No fear of being cancelled there.

Look, getting older is not fun for anyone. I am certainly guilty of deleting unflattering photos. Hell, my author photo that I've posted all over my social media is more than ten years old, so I am certainly not 100% comfortable with my evolving appearance. We all know that aging is particularly difficult for women. My husband's silver hair is seen as distinguished and attractive. I feel compelled to cover mine with harsh chemicals every four (ok three) weeks. Like Bridget, my size 2 days are far behind me (hell, single digit dress sizes are a distant memory as well). But you know what, I am lucky to be here. I turned 55 earlier this month. I have friends and schoolmates who were not as fortunate.

So I am going to take one small step towards acceptance by posting a picture of my current self. And if anyone wants to mock my double chin or wrinkles they can just kiss my fifty-five year old ass!