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Mherah Fatima, Volunteer Writer

We live in a society clouded by unrealistic expectations and standards, especially for women. It is not easy to defy a society that works day and night to enforce age-related expectations. The media and the big industries work together to market youth and portray aging in a negative light. Nevertheless, it is even more crucial today to push this negative mindset out of our brains

Embracing the aging process

To resist these expectations, we must learn to embrace the aging process itself.

Pamela Anderson, the 57-year-old actress, said, “Chasing youth is just futile. You’re never going to get there, so why not just embrace what’s going on? And since I’ve really just walked out the door as me, I feel a relief, just a weight off my shoulders. And I actually like it better.”

This perspective reminds us that aging is a known and inevitable process everyone will have to go through. No product or device can stop the natural phenomenon from occurring. 

Importantly, growing old does not mean we have to restrict ourselves from certain tasks. The notion that growing old means to stop exploring or doing what you enjoy is a social construct. On the contrary, we must never stop exploring or doing things we like, because that is what makes us content with life. Women like Iris Apfel, the fashion icon, known for colorful clothes and oversized glasses, embody this notion. She got signed as a model at the age of 97, proving that age is not a barrier to success in fashion. Similarly, Lynja, the popular TikTok chef, started creating humorous cooking videos on TikTok in her sixties, and gathered over 20 million followers. These women are proof that aging is never a restriction, it is only the beginning of a new chapter.

Redefining aging

Often, people associate the word “aging” with negative connotations. We must change our mindsets and think of aging as a way of moving forward.

In a classic 1995 study, for example, scientists at Fordham University categorized more than 32,000 Americans into age groups and found that 38 percent of seniors, aged 68 to 77, reported being “very happy,” whereas younger groups were significantly less likely to report such positive feelings. The study dispels the  myth that associates aging with sadness and decline. 

Diana Nyad is another example of someone who defied age-related expectations. At the age of 64, she swam a remarkable 180 km, from Havana, Cuba to Key West in Florida. She famously stated, “Never ever give up. You’re never too old to chase your dreams.”

Another inspiring figure is Ernestine Shepherd, who in 2012, at age 77, was the oldest competitive female bodybuilder. What’s even more astonishing is that she never started bodybuilding until she was 56. She said in a BBC interview, “Despite how important it is to me now, I haven’t always enjoyed exercise. In fact, I didn’t set foot into a gym until I was 56. I was always too prissy to work out—and you couldn’t get me away from chocolate cake.”

These inspiring women demonstrate that age does not define capabilities nor passion. The stories of Iris, Lynja, Diana and Erenstine remind us that there is no age limit to pursuing dreams. It is high time we shift our perspective on aging from a negative to positive one and continue to empower people, regardless of their age.

References

Meet the 81-year-old woman who can bench press 115lb. (2018, March 19). BBC. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://www.bbc.com/bbcthree/article/bb27dc63-acda-4bb8-981f-988866ace2fd

Zaraska, M. (2015, November 1). With Age Comes Happiness: Here’s Why. Scientific American. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/with-age-comes-happiness-here-s-why/

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