Why Are Men Allowed To Age Gracefully But Not Women?

[dystopia]

I'm not here to spout any feminazi bullcrap but I have noticed the general trend that men can be considered handsome (and sometimes even more attractive) as they age and wrinkles are considered to add character. While women are supposed to look youthful forever & older women are considered ugly or even masculine. I was just wondering is it biological or just cultural brainwashing?

I understand that young women can have healthier babies and all that but same with men yet they continue to be considered attractive. Name one woman in her 50's who is considered a sex symbol. You can probably name plenty of men. 

[Sarah Marie]

@shouldnt Just bullshit societal brainwashing in my opinion. 

[Anna Skywords]

It's probably because......even though we don't want to admit it....men rule the world...they do what they want how they want when they want....and God created them first not second..so that's just the way it is.

[dystopia]

@Anna Skywords I'm not religious but I do agree with you that the men in power seem to want to perpetuate the idea that women are less sexual and that men are allowed to do what they want. Theres still this idea that women older women are raising children (or something) so theyre no longer interested in sex ie not sexy after a certain age. But of course men continue to want it until they die. I'm not saying all men think this but I am sick of it. 

Edited February 23, 2016 by shouldnt

[Ajax]

A rule to live by: "Decisions by consensus are usually more wrong than right"... public opinion is foolish...

One could make the same case of model's appearance and the obsession about being shaved... they seem to have pedophilic undertones to a demisexual like me.

Leo reminds us to recognize the chimp behavior and not buy into it.

You know that this world is run by chimps and you ask them to be something than the lowbrow animals that they are.... Forgive me but that is silly... It goes against nature... one has to evolve to be a new creature.

Edited February 23, 2016 by d1ajax

[Kelley White]

Women in the fifties that are sex symbols: 

4 hours ago, shouldnt said:

Name one woman in her 50's who is considered a sex symbol. You can probably name plenty of men. 

@shouldnt I don't buy into it.  Fine summer wine.   Its a state of mind.     http://www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/11566788/Sex-symbols-over-50.html

[Emerald]

6 hours ago, shouldnt said:

I'm not here to spout any feminazi bullcrap but I have noticed the general trend that men can be considered handsome (and sometimes even more attractive) as they age and wrinkles are considered to add character. While women are supposed to look youthful forever & older women are considered ugly or even masculine. I was just wondering is it biological or just cultural brainwashing?

I understand that young women can have healthier babies and all that but same with men yet they continue to be considered attractive. Name one woman in her 50's who is considered a sex symbol. You can probably name plenty of men. 

It's a little bit biological and a lot social. Because sex is primarily for baby making, it will evolutionarily depend on that. Men can still father children after 50 but women can't. Also, because the female body is the eco-system that grows babies, the physicality of a woman will be the primary attracting factor for men looking to reproduce. Men, on the other hand, have other factors that take the primary role (leadership, planning, etc.) But erectile disfunction and loss of physical strength, stamina, and virility also take its toll.

But if I'm honest and look with my eyes to the 50+ crowd I find an equal amount of attractive and unattractive men and women. Most people really let themselves go. That said, there are still sexy women and men in their 40s and 50s. There are even a few in their 60s that are pretty hot. i.e. Susan Sarandon and Sophia Loren

But the degree of value that society places upon sexual attractiveness is extreme "chimpery." The business paradigm exaggerates the degree to which men and women are different, so that people will pay money to fit the narrow roles they cast. So, they condition women into thinking that their primary  importance is desirability and they condition men into thinking their value and power lies in their ability to land a hot woman. 

So, the pressure put on women is to keep maximum sexual desirability which peaks for women in their prime childbearing years (18-35). The younger on this scale is better for business because it is the hardest to maintain. This gives women the illusion that no on will value them when they get older, which creates an insecurity. Then they can sell to women based on this insecurity. 

So, people are given the impression that aging is okay for men but a death sentence for women.

But here is my perception of male and female attractiveness.

Women peak attractiveness range (18-35) - 23 most attractive

Men peak attractiveness range (22-45) - 30 most attractive

Percentage of men over the age of 50 who are still attractive= 10%

Percentage of women over the age of 50 who are still attractive= 7%

We all lose our charms in the end. Don't let big business talk you into thinking that men always age better or that no one will be interested in you after age 30. 

 

[dystopia]

@Emerald Wilkins Hey we're the same age! I do feel a bit of anxiety about losing my youth as I'm getting closer to 30. Susan Sarandon... that reminds me of that Lonely Island video Motherlover lol. The other lady in it, Patricia Clarkson, is quite attractive too & she's 56. Thank you for replying, that was beautiful lol. 

[Emerald]

6 minutes ago, shouldnt said:

@Emerald Wilkins Hey we're the same age! I do feel a bit of anxiety about losing my youth as I'm getting closer to 30. Susan Sarandon... that reminds me of that Lonely Island video Motherlover lol. The other lady in it, Patricia Clarkson, is quite attractive too & she's 56. Thank you for replying, that was beautiful lol. 

Thank you. I get nervous about aging too. I've spent way too many thoughts thinking about it. But if I look at reality and not what I'm told about reality, the problem of aging really isn't as bad or as disparate as our society makes it out to be. It's not as though old men are total hunks and old women are total hags. Most older couples are pretty even. The way I see it is that, if there is a man who is the same age as me who rejects me simply on the basis that I'm too old for him, he probably wouldn't do much for me anyway. Pair bonding is the primary reason for sexual attractiveness anyway. The bigger problem is that we condition people to make sexual attractiveness the number one indicator of self-worth. It makes women fear being irrelevant once menopause hits. But keep in mind, women usually live for 20-30 more years after menopause, so biology and evolution must have some other reason than child-rearing and sexuality for keeping us around. 

[Leo Gura]

Because a man's and woman's core social value is asymmetrical.

• The man's core value is in getting shit done, working his ass off in business or combat.
• The woman's core value is in reproduction and child-rearing (of course there are many individual exceptions.)

To fulfill these core functions well, for the man it's preferable to have lots of experience, and his looks are largely irrelevant.

Not so for the woman because men want the most nubile women.

Women are biologically attracted to experienced men.

Men are biologically attracted to hot young women.

Is it fair? I dunno. But it's certainly been this way for thousands of years. And you clearly see this dynamic in Hollywood, or with powerful leaders in 3rd world countries, or with Wallstreet business tycoons. When a man has a lot of money and status, he generally prefers to get himself the hottest youngest woman he can.

Of course women don't like this as they age, although they love it when they're young and hot and get all the attention and freebies.

[Emerald]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 8:59 PM, Leo Gura said:

Because a man's and woman's core social value is asymmetrical.

• The man's core value is in getting shit done, working his ass off in business or combat.
• The woman's core value is in reproduction and child-rearing (of course there are many individual exceptions.)

To fulfill these core functions well, for the man it's preferable to have lots of experience, and his looks are largely irrelevant.

Not so for the woman because men want the most nubile women.

Women are biologically attracted to experienced men.

Men are biologically attracted to hot young women.

Is it fair? I dunno. But it's certainly been this way for thousands of years. And you clearly see this dynamic in Hollywood, or with powerful leaders in 3rd world countries, or with Wallstreet business tycoons. When a man has a lot of money and status, he generally prefers to get himself the hottest youngest woman he can.

Of course women don't like this as they age, although they love it when they're young and hot and get all the attention and freebies.

Sexuality takes this form from the orange paradigm and a more extreme form of this form from the red paradigm. Sex as commodity is the current social structure surrounding sex.

[Walter B]

On 2/23/2016 at 11:25 AM, shouldnt said:

I'm not here to spout any feminazi bullcrap but I have noticed the general trend that men can be considered handsome (and sometimes even more attractive) as they age and wrinkles are considered to add character. While women are supposed to look youthful forever & older women are considered ugly or even masculine. I was just wondering is it biological or just cultural brainwashing?

I understand that young women can have healthier babies and all that but same with men yet they continue to be considered attractive. Name one woman in her 50's who is considered a sex symbol. You can probably name plenty of men. 

It is a lot of brainwashing to sell stuff to people.  Like marriage is a huge business and so is beauty.  External beauty sells more than internal beauty in general.  Look at it from an economic perspective and statistical perspective and it makes sense.

However, I've been very attracted to older women at times.  It's really all about what you think of yourself.  Take an older semi-attractive woman who can't figure out why a younger guy doesn't get attracted to her.  Well, it's much more likely that there is something on the inside that turns him off rather than her exterior.  But the years of her life are what instilled these undesirable traits into her.  And the wrinkles, of course, but wrinkles matter much less than a genuinely good and loving person.  It's vanity vs. everything else.....vain people drive me nuts!  But vanity sells and that likely won't change. Ever