Some online think Anne Hathaway is not believable as a 40 - yr - honest-to-god female parent of a teenager . What is 40 suppose to look like ?
InThe Idea of You , Anne Hathawayplays a 40 - yr - old single mom who gets swept up in a romance with a 24 - year - onetime male child - bander .
Interestingly , whatstruck many viewersof the Primerom - comwas how Hathaway had somehow stopped the onslaught of time because she does n’t search like a brittle old womanhood at her advanced age of 41 .
“ Ok this movie is cute butAnne Hathawayis not believable as a 40 - year - older mother of a teenager,”one person tweeted .
“ No one is going to believe Anne Hathaway is 40 I mean follow on!?”another tweeted .
“ It is 2001 . Hollywood is strain to convince you Anne Hathaway is ugly,”one soul tweetedalongside a still fromThePrincess Diariesand a photograph fromThe Idea of You . “ It is 2024 . Hollywood is trying to convince you Anne Hathaway is honest-to-god . ”
What exactly is a 40 - year - old woman opine to look like ? AThe ?
In response , a turn of post cropped up onThreadsandX , formerly called Twitter , where women over 40 shared selfies to dispel the thought that 40 is the end of the line when it comes to sex appeal . ( Some menparticipated in the trend , too . )
This ageist dissertate about#AnneHathawayin#theideaofyounot look her geezerhood has me want to do an experiment . I require to see how real women between 35 and 45 await like . So , let ’s post the last 2 pics we took of ourselves , so we normalize real cleaning woman ; and our age . I am 39.pic.twitter.com/jJJOQdQGLN
“ If you ’re over 40 , post a film . masses need to see we ’re not old and gray , ” thecaptiontomanyof thepostsread .
Genevra Siciliano , a 47 - yr - honest-to-god lensman andpodcast host , was among those who posted .
Those who had a shocked response to Hathaway ’s show , she said , “ have n’t been spend enough time around women who are physically rocking their 40s — and not just their forcible appearance but giving it off energetically too . ”
The startled reactions to Hathaway descend at an interesting time . For months there have been conversations online about howmillennials look good for their age , very possibly because they ’re the first generation to really , unfeignedly prise SPF .
Assome pointed out , Hathaway looks like a distinctive 40 - something char who has a dedicated skincare regimen and gymnasium turn . ( Her character inThe Idea of Youis also an upper - mediate - class mom in Los Angeles , so it ’s not a stretch to reckon she ’s been dabbling inBaby Botoxfor class , too . )
“ There is so much accent these days on self - care that did n’t survive when my mom was in her 40s raising me and my siblings . ” saidKrishma Arora , a 44 - class - one-time writer , who posted a “ This is 40 + selfie . ”
“ Advanced skin care , know to use sun protection , and the grandness of usage and eating a healthy diet are all thing that help women in their XL feel and sometimes count skilful than they did when they were younger , ” she say .
For what it ’s worth , Arora say , she “ perfectly ” still feels as attractive and desirable as she did 20 eld ago .
“ I may have stretch mark from giving birth , but I ’m healthy , strong , set , and take care of myself , not just physically but also sustain my genial wellness , ” she said .
Many responded positively to TV author Gennefer Gross ’s comment on theThe Idea of Youage conversation .
“ The discourse around a 41 - year - quondam Anne Hathaway not search 40 is further proof order was gaslighted by rearing misogynism that cleaning lady over 35 are undesirable hags . When , in fact , they ’re more vivacious , hotter , and hornier than ever,”she nip . “ There is nothing sexier than subsist experience . ”
Hollywood has a account of prematurely aging actress , casting performers as mommy andeven grandmaslong before their metre : Last year , Emmy Rossumwas cast as Tom Holland ’s mom in Apple TV+’sThe Crowded Roomdespite beingonly 10 years one-time than him .
The Rossum / Holland castingharkens back toThe Graduate , where Mrs. Robinson ( Anne Bancroft ) was only six years older than Dustin Hoffman in real life , and eight years older than Katharine Ross , who played her girl . At the clock time , Bancroft was a mere 35 .
In an email consultation with HuffPost , Gross said she ’s sick of actress of a sealed geezerhood being “ demote to book club and knitting and the frumpy , haggard mom chase after her kids . ”
The writer thinks such casting “ brainwashes ” the world into believing that a charwoman in her 40 loses all her desirability and could n’t possibly look likethat . If she is “ raging , ” she ’s limn as an outlier : the rare cougar in a sea of sleep - thirst moms in cardigan sweater .
The contention around Anne Hathaway “ is rooted in the archaic , misogynistic notion that women over 35 shrivel up into one-time hags and could n’t perchance await aphrodisiac and appealing at that age ― something that ’s perpetuated in film and telecasting for more than half a 100 , ” Gross said .
Gross ’s personal experience just do n’t sync up with that .
“ I ’m a mom at this stage in my lifetime and not only do I think I search all-fired good , I feel more vivacious and surefooted than I ever did in my twenties and am not slow up down anytime soon , ” she enunciate . “ My teenage son ca n’t even keep up with me sometimes ! ”
Enocha Edenfield , 42 , stake a “ this is 40 - something ” selfie , too . She hope her post would get other woman in their 40s talking about how lofty they are of their own appearance .
“ I do n’t believe myself an overtly aphrodisiacal person , but I also bed that I do n’t look like what most people think a woman in her forty should seem like , ” she said .
Edenfield believes that women are under no duty to “ get on graciously ” but can still be lofty of how they are aging .
Like the other women we interviewed , Edenfield enunciate she ’s more comfortable in her body today than she ’s ever been , mostly because she dresses for herself .
“ My teenager , XX , and even the majority of my 30s were spent trying to make myself appealing for public consumption , ” she said . “ Now that I ’m in my 40s , I just do n’t like what others guess I should see like . Yes , I still practice and fatigue composition and nice clothes , but it ’s to pose the version of myself that feels most authentic .
Louise Dockery , a 48 - class - old resilience coach for women who posted a selfie , feel that agency , too . Turning 40 was when she at last felt happy in her own tegument .
“ That designate on my face and in my personality , ” she told HuffPost . “ I look back on photos of me in my twenty and thirty and I was stress and burn out from perpetually trying to prove myself and please everyone . ”
Everything bug out to add up together in her 40s , too , Dockery said : She started her own business at 40 , met her partner and had her first child at 45 .
“ I ’ve never had more Department of Energy or passion for life story , ” she say . “ My friends and I go to fete and gigs , plan our outfits , terpsichore in the Sunday , and have as much fun as we did in our 20s . I ’m sure we ’ll still be doing it in our LX , why not ? ”
Sarah Zink , 63 , also post a Hathaway - inspire selfie . She thinks that it ’s not until women stumble their forty that they begin to realize the shallowness of our cultural beauty standards and fall into their own .
“ That ’s when we begin to understand the time value of our bodies , desire and appearance , ” Zink said . “ I ’m figure more women work out on their self - respect , versus their wrinkle . They are working on healing their past trauma versus flabby second joint . Internal workplace is surpassing the need for external oeuvre . ”
“ We learn that we can say ‘ no ’ to what we ’ve been senselessly buying into , and finally start to ask , ‘ Whatelsemight be true ? ’ ” she separate HuffPost .
Zink said she ’s definitely much more well-fixed in her own skin now in her 60s than she was in years prior .
“ Excuse the language , but I am un - fuck - withable , ” she said , with a joke . “ I do n’t want anyone ’s favorable reception of what I hold out , how I bust it , or anything else . I will never be enough for some people , but ― for the correct people ― I am more than enough . ”This mail originally come out onHuffPost .
