EDITOR’S NOTE
IT WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT: Late last year, a group of friends and I watched an almost-50-year-old Jennifer Lopez spin around a pole wearing a minuscule shimmering leotard in her take-no-prisoners role in Hustlers. Reader, we were rocked to the core; but walking out of the theatre, I realized that we weren’t all shook for the same reason. Some of my mates—let’s call them Team Let’s Do This—were so thrilled by Lopez’s agility, stamina and hyper-fit body that they’d booked their next barre class before even calling their Uber, mumbling, “If she can do that at 50, I can do something now.” But on the other end of the emotional spectrum, Team Despondent was left feeling outraged by the ever-expanding demands on how a woman in middle age should look. They feared that rather than being left alone to embrace their inner Golden Girl, they’d be forced to remain on speaking terms with tight jeans and keto cookbooks. In “The (New) Middle Ages” (page 76), Kate Rae hilariously unpacks the cultural baggage behind that perspective.
Suffice it to say that JLo’s moves took a mental toll (herein referred to as “the Hustlers effect”) on us all, but what lingered most after the credits rolled was the profusion of comments like “Wow, she looks so good for her age!” from media outlets and those around the office water cooler. Our shared inability to leave those three qualifying words off that compliment implies, of course, that looking good at her age is an anomaly. The subtext of this comment reads: “Who knew that a woman could still be remotely appealing in such an advanced state of decline?” The unspoken answer: No one, apparently. So, in “Age Before Beauty” (page 112), we take a deeper look at society’s compulsion to glorify those who are “aging backwards” or who “don’t age”—and also query whether it’s really so wrong to just accept an age-related compliment with a smile.
If it isn’t already obvious, this month we’re looking closely at society’s changing outlook on getting older—even if it means that some of us have to squint. How should we hope to age? Just ask our inspiring and indomitable cover star, Jane Fonda, a vibrant activist at 82 years old; or the clever gen Z influencers who are driving beauty trends on TikTok (“New Direction,” page 66); or the spate of women who are decisively stepping back from using injectables (“Custom Made,” page 70). French model and author Caroline de Maigret handily sums up her best advice for those in pursuit of eternal youth in “A Certain Appeal” (page 58): “Showing insatiable curiosity will make you look younger than a new pair of breasts.” With that in mind, here’s to living with an open and inquisitive spirit—and with all the sparkle of a rhinestone leotard and the strength of JLo’s left bicep.