Article by Ceri Wheeldon
Is 2019 the year women will stop lying about their age?
This is the headline I woke up to this morning. According to one of the world’s top trend predictors, this is the year when we will become ‘age proud’. Marian Salzman predicts that age will now become a badge of honour
But what about those of us who have been age proud for some time?
When I set up Fab after Fifty, an unbelievable 9 years ago, it was because I was so frustrated at the apparent ageism in the recruitment process when it came to women ( was a headhunter) and the out of date perceptions of how a 50 something woman viewed herself, her life and the world. I decided to take a stand and fight back from the premise that women over 50 should be invisible!! We are living longer and choose to, or are expected to work longer than any previous generation. We have so much to offer society and the workplace – and are not going to let a birthday make us disappear into the background.
I defied convention and continued to wear my hair long, I continued to wear jeans,I learnt new skills, I set up a new business, I continued to wear colour (although I also wear a lot of black, another no-no for women over 50 apparently} and I put together a website providing resources, and hopefully inspiration for other women to continue to live their best possible life. I was not alone in my approach to living life to the full.
On trend by not lying about age
I am delighted to hear that I am now ‘on trend’ in not lying about my age – like many others I have not felt the need to- obviously many of us women over 50 are ahead of the curve – proud to be fabulous….and over 50! Our age does not define us– we live the life we choose – based on how we want to live and not outdated expectations.
I wrote recently about ‘older’ models on the catwalk – and perceptions of age are helped by high profile ‘A listers’ such as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock all having moved past their 50th birthdays to still play leading roles – far from being consigned to the sidelines.
I am delighted if attitudes are starting to shift – and I have noticed a difference over the past 9 years.
AgeProud? Absolutely. And after campaigning for everyone to be Fab after Fifty – my next task will be to ensure that over 60 are seen as being equally fabulous too!!
Join the Age Proud revolution!
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