I have age
Getting older is part of life, says entrepreneur Sue Giers. And she shares her thoughts on beauty ideals and gray hair.
Every year on my birthday, I consciously realize that I am getting older. I am now "50-something," as my children lovingly call me. Yet inside, I feel more like "35-something." At least, that is my perception on a good day. And yet: I now have age.
This is not meant negatively. I can proudly say that I am a fit 52-year-old. Apparently, I bathed in dragon's blood. I gave birth to three children, fought through a divorce, founded a company from scratch with my sister and a great team, and survived two Corona quarantines without getting infected. The rush hour of life seamlessly extended into my 50s due to the separation because I had to start everything over again. I am content and grateful. And yet sometimes I get cold feet about getting older. After all, I grew up in a culture where supermodels were declared the beauty ideal 30 years ago. I would be lying if I claimed to be unimpressed by these icons. And now I experience firsthand what it feels like when Mother Nature gradually reclaims this leased self-concept of agelessness.
No one has ever bought me a drink or given me a compliment when I walked into a bar. I was always more of the jeans girl than the vamp and felt free in my choice of fashion and beauty routine. But now I sense a change in my immediate surroundings: "Mommy, you shouldn't wear that short dress anymore" or "Mommy, I now know where your 'mood swings' come from, you have menopause." Not exactly, but my vitality is slowly declining in microdoses, and I can usually hide it well from myself and others; the estrogens are slowly retiring along with the collagen. I compensate for that. The good thing about getting older is that at some point we know our own worth. We no longer need constant validation from others to feel good. But I would be lying if my self-love were only shaped by inner values.
I gladly spend my money to dye my gray hair. When I look tired, even though I don't feel that way, I go to the beauty doctor – why not gently test progress? I enjoy running around the Alster when I feel my – still – firm gluteus maximus.
I moderately fight the aging process, fully aware that I cannot stop it. People may accuse me of self-optimization – where it begins and ends is up to me. That too is emancipation for me.
As a Best Ager, I am now in demand.
We "old ladies" have now come back into focus because the economy suddenly takes an interest in us, not least because we have spending power and are in the majority. Media and beauty companies are currently discovering "adult women" as an important target group. The current cover of "Madame" celebrates the 80-year-old actress Senta Berger. However, with a photo of her at age 20!
Social networks are considered a catalyst for this new "Ageless Beauty – Trend," and even the "old" venerable Stern wrote about successful influencers over 40 like me: "There's still something to come." A pleasing article with a headline that unfortunately confirms the mustiness in people's minds.
In the past, women were declared invisible when their hair turned gray. Today, such external signs of aging have a new meaning: gray hair as a fashion statement is trendy, and the proportion of over-50s who say they deliberately dress inconspicuously has dropped from 63 to 49 percent in the last 10 years. Thanks to social media. But actually, these are numerically small steps.
From my network, I also repeatedly receive distressing news of covert "age discrimination": in many industries, people are apparently mercilessly phased out due to age. Here too, Corona acts as a convenient excuse to phase out some women over 50 into early retirement or to offer termination agreements: too expensive, too inconvenient. At least, that's what I'm told.
In fashion, in my view, style and coolness fortunately have neither an expiration date nor an age limit. As long as I stay curious, I feel young, it's that simple! I compensate for a declining willingness to absorb too much new information with life experience. I trade speed for precision, my impatience for calmness. It is proven: the more positive we are about aging, the younger we feel. That's a timeless perspective.
