Aging Isn't One-Size-Fits-All

Aging is a deeply personal experience. We each journey through life with our own experiences, values, and beliefs. These shape how we think and feel about the aging process.  Instead of critiquing how others navigate it, what if we chose respect, support, and allowing every woman the freedom to age on her own terms?

Recently, I saw SO many social media posts criticizing Madonna for dressing and behaving in what some people feel is inappropriate for her age while appearing onstage at Glastonbury. Within days of that wave of criticism, there was an article that came out ridiculing Cameron Diaz because she has apparently forgone cosmetic procedures and is choosing to age "naturally".  

Aging for women seems to be a no‑win situation. We’re expected to look youthful but ridiculed if we try too hard. If we choose to age "naturally" with no cosmetic procedures or dying our hair to hide the grays, then we're letting ourselves go. We're made to feel invisible yet still judged for everything from our appearance to how we act. All this keeps us constantly second‑guessing ourselves and feeling as though we're never getting it right.

The worst part is how, all too often, the harshest critics of how older women act, look, or dress are OTHER women. Ladies, we have to do and be better! 

If someone else is choosing to age in a way you wouldn't consider for yourself, that's her prerogative. We should each be allowed to age in whatever way is comfortable for us. Whether that's dying our hair or letting our silvers shine. Having a few procedures or deciding to age naturally. Staying active and taking risks or choosing to settle into a quieter lifestyle. Wearing fun, colorful, or  offbeat outfits or dressing in a more modest and subdued way.  

How another woman chooses to live her own midlife and beyond has no bearing or effect on your own. And if it does, maybe we need to examine that on a personal level instead of being so openly judgemental about it.

Rather than criticizing, let's support and lift each other up for expressing our individuaity and being our authentic selves. Or at the very least, remember the old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say; don't say anything."