Years ago I had a professional photo done to please a friend. After that I quit feeling bad when I saw magazines with beauty models - because I looked fabulous and flawless. As far as models go, really - who would want to look like they were so thin that people worried about their health - not me. I earned my wrinkles and gray hair, although some days I think I have been over paid. But you ladys are all right - my definition of beauty has changed over the years. I met an old Indian Guide that was so wrinkled it was hard to see all the features in his face until he smiled. But Lord, those eyes. Bright, lively, full of wisdom, and humor. He was truely a beautiful man.

My grandmother always cared about her looks and hair and makeup ,but she always said to us grandchildren “Pretty is as Pretty does” and she lived to a beautiful age of 103! Ate her icecream and choc! I am of the opinion that we care too much what is on the outside and the inside heart is what makes a person shine and have beautiful features.. Lovely character and pure of heart and soul is what makes one person have the glow.. so take time for the inward soul to shine my friends…

I just celebrated my 59 birthday, and … I am not at all happy with the way I look. I’ve gone from a very comfortable size 10 to a very uncomfortable size 14, and it is difficult for me to loose the weight, even though I eat less. The fact is that some women look more beautiful as they age, while others do not. My mother, for example, at 82 looks gorgeous!! It just goes to prove that genes don’t necessarily help. Ugh for the physical part of aging. But, I would not trade being 39 for 59, because I’ve learned so much about life. And … still learning.

it is great! i am 59, going on 60, pretend that i’m naive. paraphrase done. interesting that most of the women in this thread are not discussing their personalities but their physiques. i halfway believe: “you are what you know.”

thats why we women are beautiful in michigan, james gemmell, its the crisp cool weather in the am and warms into a nice sunshiny day in the pm. But i can see a difference in me when my mental attitude is up or down, on how “beautiful” I am or how “beautiful” I look, especially to others

The definition of beauty has changed and as i have matured it has many more dimensions, colours, and textures. i see beauty in places i was unable to see when younger.

I wrote a post, wanted to edit out my full name, don’t know what happened to it. This has happened to me twice.

Yes Mary,birthdays are bad for your health!Just another society’s habit!There is not such a thing as time!Only in the mind!

Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~Tom Wilson My little children think I am beautiful - my husband, too. I hope i am wiser because of my birthdays.

Old is not a 4-letter word, Ladies! Get over this idea that denial is a positive way of life! As others have written, what is the alternative? I’m 78 and surely surprised I’ve reached it, since none of my ancestors never made it beyond 75. Also, worrying about my beauty is irrelevant, for self-acceptance emerged, thank goodness! Adolescence was a worry, especially if a girl did not measure up to the media, and I go back to Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable. Growing up means that we develop other interests, take on responsibilities, and know that we will change, some for the better, some a little, or some too much, and so what! I agree that standards of beauty in this country have changed for the better, because there is much diversity. As a child, my olive skinned, dark eyed daughter used to emulate Marlo Thomas, and I was pleased. I am fair skinned, grren eyed another type, and I’ve come to accept my wide face, small breasts, and flat hips, and of course, they are not as slim as they used to be! So what! There is beauty everywhere, and we have learned to appreciate it, for we live in a vast country with all kinds of faces and body types. I have never apologized or felt insecure because of my Semitic nose. Why apologize about what is part of our inheritance? And, the girls of my adolescence who were beauties have had their face lifts, hair dyes and are still unhappy about their looks, and that is very sad. The emphasis on youth and never aging is such a desperate, sad lifestyle. Women turn into clones; witness the the recent Charlie Rose interview. Why so blonde, why so smoothskinned, why so similar and so glittery? I was fortunate to have European parents with Old World sensibilities, so that birthdays are not daunting or horrible, and growing into who I am is not so frightening. All the mumbo jumbo about exercise, medication, whatever is a coverup for rage and fear about changes in our bodies. Yes, women did housework, and frankly, it was my method of staying fit all those busy years of work, marriage, motherhood, study. Don’t minimize it! On the whole, women of today who think they are so enlightened really don’t know or understand traditional lifestyles. I’m not claiming that the traditional life is better than our present somewhat emancipated life—-especially for women, but traditional women needed great strength and stamina to survive, and I will never belittle them. Right now, the emphasis on thinness, cosmetic surgery to erase history, and fads to freeze our facial muscles are dangerous absurdities. How about delving more deeply into the subject of self-acceptance and giving up those glib slogans? I’ve always said that reaching 50 frees us, and we can say whatever we think and please, including giving up our fears about how we look and who admires us.The uniforms of adolescence are not suitable for us. For years, on my kitchen bulletin board I’ve had an excerpt of an interview with Catherine Deneuve who was, of course, asked by an American interviewer about aging. She replied: “…but I think American women fight to look younger instead of staying in good shape. European women are more tricky in that they try to grow older better, but they don’t try to look younger. Here, there is a cult for youth.” So, let’s propose getting over the anxiety of looking older than our daughters and granddaughters, and practice laughing at ourselves. For my 76th birthday, my son and daughter gave me a party, and we invited their and my friends, and my former students, as well, and it was a joyful roast. I never lie about my age, and that night I announced it to all——-laughing all the way!

Talking about beauty and birthdays, my mother-in-law is turning 75 years old in a week. She is an Italian, thin, very soft skin and never goes to work or out of the house without her little bit of make-up on. She is so beautiful. I can only wish to look half as good as her. When I get better I hope that I could handle a part-time job. She works anywhere from three to four days a week. I am very proud to call her Mom.