As if people needed another reason to fear aging.
A woman in her early 50s clapped back at a theory that people lose their good looks by the time they reach their mid-40s.
Fashion blogger Jennine Jacob took to her Instagram to share her thoughts on the wild take in a now-viral video with over 60,000 views.
“So there was this woman on here talking about how nobody prepared her for being ugly in her mid-40s, and I thought that was really interesting but I want to talk about one thing no one prepared me for,” she started in the video captioned, “Nobody prepared me for how GOOD it would feel not caring.”
“No one prepared me for how little I would care about what people think about my looks, especially men. Like, genuinely, no one prepared me for how comfortable I would feel about my looks at this age,” Jacob continued while talking into the camera.
“And yes, I have wrinkles. I have thinning hair. I have grey hair… I have all of the things that are like conventionally bad but I could not care less. I did my time in the patriarchy and my time is done. I aged out. I am done with that. I have never felt more free being so ugly…”
The empowering message encouraged hundreds of others to comment under the video.
“The male gaze no longer excites me as it once did. Like, who cares? I love this feeling,” one wrote.
“Yes to all of this! I always encourage women to have friends both 10 years older and 10 years younger. The older women I am friends with prepared me for the menopause and invisibility, so I was able to really focus on cultivating my intrinsic value in the years leading up to my 40s,” another comment wrote. “I have friends that are even more than 10 years younger that keep me somewhat current and aware of what gen Z is up to.”
“Some women feel invisible after a certain age. Men don’t approach me as much anymore. But it’s taken me a while to notice because I am not invisible to WOMEN. Just friendly compliments and it’s SO MUCH MORE AWESOME,” someone else pointed out.
Another commenter raised a valid point: “I do agree that there is a freedom and joy that comes, but I also think there’s a certain challenge and loss for women who age into more of what’s culturally considered ‘dowdy’ – classic middle aged ‘mom’ – look that gets mocked by media, and you are someone who is thin and petite with a delicate bone structure that society considers elegantly aging,” the comment read. “So I do agree, mostly, but I think there are real differences for women who aren’t considered to be “aging well” or are aging into a body type used as comedy fodder (by places like SNL, etc).”
And if you are worried about aging — make sure to steer clear of these seven key mistakes.
Not surprisingly, smoking, which “strongly accelerates biological aging by damaging DNA, increasing inflammation and harming blood vessels and multiple organ systems,” Purita says.
“Diets high in ultra-processed foods and added sugars drive inflammation, insulin resistance and gut microbiome imbalance — all linked to accelerated aging,” Purita also pointed out.
Sedentary behavior also hastens the aging process.
Poor sleep “disrupts hormone balance, increases inflammation and impairs the body’s ability to repair DNA.”
High stress, excess alcohol, and social isolation are also on the aging list.
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