I have a group of girlfriends who are very much like me. We are all of the same generation - had the same sorts of parents and upbringing - most have children around the same ages - and we have all said, on more than one occasion, that we will NEVER have blue hair or go easily into the night. (Well ... unless our man is leading us there - haha!)
One of my daughters works as a cashier at Home Depot. She was telling me today that she saw this woman walking down one of the aisles. My daughter said she was wearing shorts, a top tied up that showed her mid-drift and a belly ring in her navel. I asked how old the woman was and my daughter said, "She was about your age and she should NOT have been wearing that outfit and looking like that." Now ... my daughter is quite use to me dressing flamboyantly and sexy and skimpy at times, so she is not unaccustomed to seeing a woman my age that pushes the fashion boundaries - haha! So, when I had the image in my mind of this "older" woman dressed as my daughter had described, I had to wonder how out of place she had to have looked to have caught my daughter's attention.
It is not all about the clothes and appearance, but that is a large part of how women my age are trying, and outright, defying our age. We are, not only, more health conscious and fit and living in a time where we have the ability to defy our ages with creams and lotions and hair coloring and such stuff ... we are also defying the standards that society has, in the past, tried to set on us, with regard to the clothes we should be wearing or not be wearing, the lengths and styles of our hair, the manner in which we conduct ourselves in our surroundings.
I go out dancing a lot these days. With my husband. With my girlfriends. Even with my daughters and their friends. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have been out and have met and talked to young people standing near the dance floor who were fearful of dancing. I have encouraged them many, many times - tons of kids - telling them that life is too short to be afraid of this thing that can bring you so much joy and pleasure - that they just need to get out there and not worry about what people think and ... DANCE!
This is who we are - those of us that fall comfortably into this category of "rebels" (and there are tons of us) that are the "50s that are the new 30". We are simply living the lives we want - regardless of pretentious boundaries or bizarre expectations. And ... we want that joy of life that we feel, to not only show in the clothes we wear and things we do and places we go and how we look and in all that we accomplish, but also to possibly rub off on others and to be accepted, even if we appear to be out of place or defiant.
I believe we are paving a way - setting new standards - not just starlets in Hollywood, but the women like me in your local grocery stores and neighborhoods - paving a way for at least a portion of the present and future population of like-minded women. Paving the way for a new way to feel, to dress, to express ourselves, to believe, to be. It might not be a majority, now, or ever, but we are particular and memorable and smart and beautiful and progressive and unique and ... leaving our happy little footprints in the aisles of Home Depot and all over dance floors everywhere.
I hope there are young girls that see me and think, "That will be me someday," and mean it in a good way ... :)
i like the black and white picture and the women is HOT........... love
ReplyDeleteI doubt I'll ever feel my age. I doubt that most people ever do. I dread the day that I no longer catch someone's eye (for either the way I look or for my personality).
ReplyDelete