I wish I could post a picture from my computer here. I'm 52 and I have 2 kids. Between my husband and myself we have 4 kids. We have grandkids.

But that's not the issue. Our kids are grown. I spent 20 years working and caring for my kids and family. I have paid_my_dues in this world as a wife and a mother. We now have the wherewithal for me to have some personal and financial freedom. My intention is to enjoy it before it before I die.

Here's the rub: I don't dress like an old lady-- ever!I still have a nice body, a good brain, and a caring outlook. We went out tonight and I was meeting my husband and some friends. I wore some new cute clothes. They were not too tight. My tits were not visible. There was no part of my anatomy showing, and yet....(keep in mind we are not in America) I overheard some young guys say "she's a little old for those clothes.....

Frankly, I looked good. Makeup, black pants and a new top and boots. Not over the top by any stretch. No cleavage, no tummy, no excess. But I'm nobody's image of what *mama* should look like. I make no apologies for that. I may be a 'mama' but MY kids were not there.

So why do men think that if you're over 30 you can't be hot or sexy?? Why do they think that women "old enough to be their mothers" should be at home knitting potholders?! You know what? I'm not your mother and I ain't knitting no potholders and stirring borsht. I'm still kicking.

I've heard it from my dad who says "aren't you a little long in the tooth to be shoveling snow?" (No!) I've heard it from my son who says "You're an old lady! You can't go out looking like that!" ( Watch me,oh yes I can)

You know what I think?? I think men have this vision of older women (their mothers) who had immaculate conception in their youth and then went on to be sweet grandmas who baked immaculate pies. I think men can't coneive of women over 40 who are hot and sexy and still very much alive.

I'm tired of people telling me that I don't dress my age. I'm tired of people telling me to act my age. By god, I'm 52 years old and I am a long way away and far from looking or acting like anybody's grandma. I'm still very much a viable and sexual woman. Why do men resent this so very much?? Why do they think that women over 40 are sexually deceased and should dress as such? I refuse!

So somebody tell me why as a woman over 50 I should dress like a nun, and why they become so offended when I do NOT? Do I upset their tidy little world when I show up as an older woman with a sexuality? Is this not what ya'll had in mind for your mother?? As mothers are we supposed to ditch our sexiness for some kind dowager matronliness to keep up appearances? Fiddlesticks!

I'll tell ya, I'm p*ssed. Those young bohunks can kiss my grits, cause I'm not dead yet!

Immaculate pies...

Yea...I'll second that.
Kiss the grits.

Don't be listening to these boys...it takes a real man to appreciate a woman with flavor and taste.

A while back I was watching one of those E! gossip shows about what women wore to the Oscars. The commentators just shredded Susan Sarandon (over 50) for wearing a glorious ballgown because she was "too old" to be showing that much cleavage. She looked great. Her cleavage looked great.

Who makes these rules that say we need to go around covered up *appropriately* in tow sacks with just our heads sticking out the top because we're somehow too old to have figures that bespeak a womanly sexuality? I did not turn into a pumpkin at the age of 40.

I don't know who makes the rules, but I think they're beginning to change.

Our generation has changed everything from the time we were infants. The world has had to cater to us due to our numbers.

Retailers are beginning to realize they are missing out on the boomer market. That's why Chico's, J Jill, and Coldwater Creek are opening more stores all the time. They cater to boomer women. Gap also recently opened a store for us called Forth and Towne.

We can't wear the young junior look, but we don't want stretch pants and house coats either. I think the industry is beginning to catch on. I sure hope so.

Where does everyone clothes shop?

I have gotten a few pairs of pants at Ann Taylor Loft. They aren't the high rise that make your butt look huge, nor are they the low rise that make you look like the plumber when you bend over. They are respectable hip-huggers and I love them.

I am more conservative, but I do like my above the knee skirts in the summer with a dressier t-shirt. I want to wear my clothes, I don't want my clothes to wear me.

I'm like you Mrs. Madness, as long as I am decent and not dressing like a teenager, what does it matter. I still look the same as I did 10 years ago for the most part, and I'm not going to start dressing like "Mamma" in the Carol Burnett Show. Rolled down knee-highs are not for me.

Daisygirl

Mrs. Madness, don't be too hard on the poor mis-informed young men! Their attitudes are the product of the messages sent out by the visual media, and our society in general. Let's face it, gals, when was the last time you saw a woman fity and over in some slick fashion magazine, or in the movies or on television, dressed in a way other than staid, or down-right frumpy? Believe me, if she was appareled in anything approaching provacative, she was most likely being characterized, or portrayed as some foolish, laughable, trying-desperately-to-hang-on-to-her-youth type.

Attitudes are changing, but it's an uphill battle, when faced with the bad, or non-existent press women fifty and over receive, at the hands of the mega-powerful visual media!

http://www.intouchwithjeannine.com

I keep remembering how OLD people even in their thirties seemed to me when I was in my twenties. Now I think how YOUNG and immature people in their twenties seem to me.

I guess each age has its prejudices and you just have to ignore those that bother you.

smile