Women & Aging In Our Society

It's not all that easy to be an aging woman in a society that does not seem to value older women. 

In the media, photos are altered. Air-brushed.

Why the need to make the arm appear thinner? To some it may be a subtle change. To me it looks abnormal.

Again, why?

As women age, they tend to become less visible. In a society that seems to cherish youth.

 
There was a time in our culture when older women were revered. Adored. Respected and valued.

Signs of aging doesn't bother me. In terms of looks or worrying about wrinkles. I don't color my gray. 

I don't judge anyone who does. It just doesn't feel necessary to me.

I simply regret that women feel the need to get Botox and facelifts in order to feel beautiful. 
 

 
Think of the actresses that are over 50, 60. Maybe they have aged, but they have not lost their ability to act.

So where are they?

Then think of the men in Hollywood. They don't seem to get lost in the shuffle.

I once knew a man who said: "Men age like fine leather. Women just age." 

I wonder why that thought dominates our culture? 

That pretty much sums up how I feel.

I know that I have far more wisdom now than I had at 20, 30, 40 or even 50. 

I have more empathy and understanding. Because to live means to learn.

Women, as they age, are less likely to marry. Men, they are sought after.

Men sire children without a thought to their age.


Excerpt from Men's Health December 2016:
Aging Means Problems On Your Sperm Production Line
 
Women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever need. Men, on the other hand, are literal sperm factories.  

There’s no expiration date on when guys can father a child. Case in point: Rocker Mick Jagger just had his eighth child at the age of 73.

You can blame exposure to things like radiation, environmental toxins, and plain old aging.

As you grow older and these factors pile up, you lose both Leydig cells—the cells in your testicles that make testosterone—and Sertoli cells, which support and nurture new sperm, Dr. Brannigan notes.

As a result, your body starts to churn out more defective sperm, which contain DNA mutations that could harm your babies-to-be.

The average 30-year-old dad passes on about 55 mutations to his offspring, according to a paper published in Nature. But each year you age increases that number by two, the authors found.

That means every 16.5 years, the number of mutations you pass along will double. And in 50 years—say, at age 80 instead of 30—you’d bequeath eight times as many DNA mutations. 

What’s more, autism rates rise from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 174 for kids whose dads had them after age 40.

But, men keep on finding young women to have babies.

So what gives, do you think? 

Why do you think aging women sort of disappear? While aging men continue to be sought after?