Is 42 the new 22? Is being a 42 year old woman the ultimate in sexy? This article in Esquire, primarily geared toward male readers, shows lots of hot women in the best shape of their lives. Have we as women felt pressure to work out, get fit and be in buff shape as we move into middle age, so that we can stay sexy and be young forever or are we naturally staying younger because we eat healthier and maintain a better lifestyle? I am (gulp) ten years older than those 42 year old women. But I feel like I am in the best shape I have been in for a while, although I do go up and down, dramatically. But yoga and running, swimming and generally eating well, has actually created hard places in my body underneath the soft ones. And frankly, I am definitely sexier than I ever was. Have we underestimated a woman’s sexuality? Women in middle age have always known that sex is better in their 40’s, 50’s and I hope their 60’s too. Don’t let the magazines with the young girls on the front fool you. Growing up is better than being young. We finally have a voice, we can ask for what we want, and we know how to get it. And we are strong enough to take it for ourselves.
Esquire’s original: In Praise of 42-year-old Women
Slate’s response to Esquire’s piece on Women at 42, shows a somewhat comical look at men at 56. And yet I forwarded it to my 56 year old husband. Men at 56 are sexy. And regardless of the Hollywood fake tan set, most men in their 50’s know their way around a woman’s body, and they aren’t afraid to use it. Nothing fake going on there. And men in their mid 50’s have discovered something else important; they have feelings. They aren’t afraid to show those either. Many of them have had kids and some even have grandchildren, or the fantasy of them. And they have softened over the years. Or, if they are at the peak of their success, they are beginning to realize that money is not all there is to success. I would take a 56 year old man over a 35 year old man any day. A little pot belly over a flat stomach and a shallow mind any day.
Slate’s satirical response: In Praise of 56-Year-Old Men
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