If you do not remind me that I am over the age of 40, it would not even enter my mind. I am different from when I was 20, that is a given. As I look back on how I felt in my twenties, my awareness of ‘sexy’ was blinded by getting through each new event and challenge presented to me. Before the obvious body changes that I was about to go through when giving birth; raising children, marriage and the inevitable aging process, being happy with the way I looked did not connect to ‘sexy’.
Now ‘middle aged’, I value and honour the fact that I have earned my ‘sexy stripes’. These stripes may involve wrinkles, a belly, scars and stretch marks. Not the typical list of attributes related to sexy. All the same, I survived thus far, feeling in control of who I am. Many challenges before me, sexy at 40 being one of these, I welcome what life has in store.
Over the past decade, the recognition of women’s failing self esteem at any age beams across the media. We see this in magazines, where product ads display skinny, young women and on the next page, maybe an article how the ‘average’ woman has power, expressing she should feel good about herself and her accomplishments. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, sweeps us in a different direction and displays older, naked, ‘real’ women in their advertisements. Other companies are jumping in with bold images of heavier women of all ages, sizes etc. thus stressing that we all have what it takes to be beautiful.
Bring back our confidence and let us shine…right on! But wait, hitting 40 also brings out more labels. Have you heard of the ‘cougar’ ‘her cubs’ or maybe ‘MILF’? The online niches portray the ‘older woman’ in a different scope. Dragged out there for discussion so much so, that there is a TV show ‘Cougar Town’. Let us not forget the ‘Desperate Housewives’, better yet, ‘The Real Desperate Housewives’.
If feeling sexy in your 40’s is not hard enough, trying to find where you fit in could drag into a confusing frame of mind. What if you are not a woman looking for a younger man, or a mother wanting sex with whomever? What if you are not a rich chick in a big house filling her day with shopping and charity events? What if you are just a woman deciding whether to make cabbage rolls for dinner or cutting gum out of the carpet?
Welcome to the beginning of our series “Sexy 40” not only for women, we will look on taking care of our bodies, minds and spirit as we find ourselves at the magic age of ‘middle age’. It should be a fun ride especially when a good healthy laugh can be sexy!
I have always equated stretch marks to a highway map to becoming a woman. And all the wrinkles and stuff just adds to your beauty and, to me, means wisdom. Beauty has different meanings as we age. Hell, we all have...uh...flaws (for lack of a better word)yet we are much more than those flaws.
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