Gooooood morning, Mrs. Pepe!  I beg to differ with respect to your delicious Italian man and handsome Italian rolls (or did I get that the wrong way round?).  Both have been delectably influenced by their American environment so can only be classified as authentically Italian-American.

As for recognizing authenticity "when I see it," I have to say that there are limits to pornography (determined, basically, by the numbers of mammalian orifices, appendages and bodily excretions, plus "props" as a single class) but there are no limits to human authenticity beyond the number of people who have ever lived, are alive now, or will ever live on this planet.  

P.S.  German Sprite ad.?  Hmmm?

As I child, I felt authentically a child; as a teenage, authentically a teenager, etc. etc. Today’s question is basically a crock.  Look at the definition of authentic:

authentic |ôˈθentik| (abbr.: auth.)
adjective
1 of undisputed origin; genuine : the letter is now accepted as an authentic document | authentic 14th-century furniture. See note at genuine .
• made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original : the restaurant serves authentic Italian meals | every detail of the movie was totally authentic.
• based on facts; accurate or reliable : an authentic depiction of the situation.
• (in existentialist philosophy) relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.

Are we dealing here with the "existentialist and philosophical" version of authenticity?  If so, perhaps we were most authentic as newborn babies?  We behaved in an emotionally appropriate manner, we were significant and purposive, and our responsibilities consisted only of staying alive and developing.  Clearly, we fulfilled those responsibilities.

I didn’t seek help but help found me.  An old boyfriend got in touch after 35 years, came from Europe to see me, and spent a totally platonic weekend with me. 

He had become a psychiatrist and my marriage was going through a bad patch, to put it mildly.  After hearing me talk over the course of the weekend (we slept in different places, don’t get me wrong). he said something that saved my marriage. 

Speaking about my husband’s problems, he said, "It’s not your fault and you can’t fix it.  Your problem is that you want to fix everything."

Suddenly, my whole marriage looked different and I knew I could handle it.  My husband has his problems and I can’t fix them.  But I’ve learned to live with them, which is a lot easier now that I am not trying to fix them. 

If you take good care of yourself and continue to gain self-confidence, you will remain yourself without having to "hang on."  Some women, for whatever reason, let themselves go.  Once you "go" beyond a certain point, there is no return but, if you make sure to keep on top of your weight, your diet, and general fitness (and if your genes let you), you should be able to retain a youthful feeling and youthful looks for a good while.  The trick, too, is not to dress like a teenager but to try for, dare I say it, restrained elegance.  I have a basic everyday uniform: dark pants and a roll-neck sweater (grey, black or navy) in the winter and dark pants with a navy or black polo shirt in the summer.  All I change are the accessories.  This uniform prevents me from focussing on my clothes and helps me focus on what is inside them.  

I think that there is a tremendous defensiveness on the part of women who can "live without it."  Women and their bodies change over the years.  What worked for women as randy teenagers may not be as important to them in later years.

There is no shame to this change.  I used to adore champagne truffles from a fancy store in NYC.  Now they do nothing for me.  I used to be a carnivore who ate all kinds of exotic food but now I’m happiest with a salad and a cheese sandwich, rarely touching meat.

Sexuality has a single evolutionary purpose - reproduction.  Is it really any surprise that sexuality wanes (for some or many women) as they get older and become, in strictly evolutionary terms, less fit to be mothers?

What is UN-natural, in evolutionary terms, is women living well past menopause and marriages, not to mention monogomous marriages, that last for many decades.  What do you think "Mother Nature" would say if you asked her whether she expected a woman of, say, 50, who had been married for 25 years to the same man, to have the same reproductive urges (=sexuality) as an 18-year-old girl with her first handsome mate that she had known for a week? 

Our society ignores nature as much as it can but, being patriarchal and puritanical, wants wives to "service" monogamous husbands for as long as they are married.  But Mother Nature sees these issues in a very different and evolutionary perspective.

I have grown in wisdom, knowledge and understanding as I have aged, reaching a comfortable place that allows me to feel satisfaction in being and having been a useful person in this world.  At the same time, my hair has turned grey and the horny little f—- bunny that I was at twenty has changed into a grandmother.  

Do I feel defensive? Far from it.  I’ve fulfilled my evolutionary duties with great pleasure and moved on to other interests, pleasures and joys.

Right on, Shirley B!!  There are so many ways to be joyful.  Tolstoy wrote, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."  I believe that "Unhappy women are all alike; every happy woman is happy in her own way!"