It’s a sad truth that our society holds different standards for men and women in various areas. Discussing every single one of them would take way too much time, so in this piece, we’re going to focus on only one of them—aging, and how it applies differently to men and women.
Just take a look at this list we collected—it perfectly encapsulates the kind of criteria different genders are being judged upon. While some receive praise for embracing their age and aging overall, others are being shamed for doing the exact same thing. You guessed right—the latter are women! So, read on as we delve a little deeper into this aggravating topic.
#1 Pedro Pascal
Ever since The Last Of Us (and let’s admit, before the show, too), Pedro Pascal’s 50-year-old looks have been praised and he was dubbed a man who’s “aging like a fine wine.”
Image source: Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube
#2 Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has been called “aged out” by people, which led her to open up about the pressures of needing to look ageless, as soon as she turned 50: “So it’s weird that it’s all of a sudden getting telegraphed in a way that’s like, ‘You look amazing for your age.’” She added, “I think we need to establish some etiquette around that dialogue and verbiage.”
Image source: Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube, InStyle
#3 Julia Roberts
One time, when Julia Roberts’ niece, Emma Roberts, posted a photo of the them together, people started being overly critical of Julia’s appearance. She said: “The number of people who felt absolutely required to talk about how terrible I looked in the picture—that I’m not aging well, that I look like a man, why would she even post a picture like this when I look that terrible! And I was amazed at how that made me feel. I’m a 50-year-old woman and I know who I am, and still my feelings got hurt.”
Image source: British Vogue / YouTube, Harpers Bazaar
#4 Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz doesn’t shy away from being vocal about what it’s like to age in Hollywood. In her bestseller The Longevity Book she opened up: “To be told at 44 that I’m no longer valuable or that I’m not viable or that I’m just going to be discarded and nobody’s going to care…I have another 40 years in me, at least. Why am I all of a sudden going to be afraid to live the rest of my life because I’m not 25?”
Image source: Vogue / YouTube
#5 Andie Macdowell
Andie MacDowell was urged against embracing her gray hair, but she said: “I somehow feel like I look younger because it looks more natural. It’s not like I’m trying to hide something. I think that it’s a power move, and that’s what I kept telling my managers.”
Image source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube, Vogue
#6 Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore once said that she finds comments about “aging gracefully” rather sexist: “Is there an ungraceful way to age? No one has an option about aging, so it’s not a positive or a negative thing. It just is. It’s part of the human condition. So why are we always talking about it as if it is something that we have control over?”
Image source: The View / YouTube, Buzzfeed News
#7 Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields has said that there’s no shame in getting and being older: “There’s a sense of pride I think that comes with it, but I don’t want to wait for that pride to have to look like ancient wisdom. You know, I’m not stopping a thing I love doing. Yes, I’m limited in a lot of the physical activity, but I’m still going. I’m still taking on new jobs. There is still more to come…. I want that message to be out there, because I want especially women over a certain age in their 50s to feel like they are at a new beginning. You know, just because their ovaries are not producing babies anymore, are they supposedly not as important or not as valuable? I don’t believe so.”
Image source: 60 Minutes Australia, NPR
#8 Steve Carell
Steve Carrell letting his gray hair grow out caused people to praise his silver fox look and even say that he looks better than ever with phrases like, “60 has never looked so good” and similar.
Image source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube
#9 Sarah Jessica Parker
In 2022, media outlets seemingly couldn’t let go of Sarah Jessica Parker rocking gray hair, applauding her for her “braveness.” So, the actress clapped back: “It became months and months of conversation about how brave I am for having gray hair,” adding, “I was like, please please applaud someone else’s courage on something!”
Image source: Bustle / YouTube, Allure
#10 Brad Pitt
For years now, Brad Pitt is considered to be one of the hottest men in Hollywood. In fact, he even was dubbed People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” twice—1995 and 2000, when he was 32 and 37 respectively.
Image source: GQ / YouTube
#11 Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves, the 60-year-old actor, has been deemed one of the most attractive men in Hollywood for many years and was even praised for dating a woman “close” to his age (9 years younger).
Image source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert / YouTube
#12 Demi Moore
Demi Moore has opened up about struggling to “find her place” in Hollywood after turning 40: “I had more challenges, particularly in my career, in my 40s than I do now. At that time, no one quite knew what to do with me. I wasn’t 30, but I wasn’t 40 in a way that people could comfortably identify me as a mother, etc. There was no place for me.”
Image source: Golden Globes / YouTube, Variety
#13 Pamela Anderson
Image source: Deadline Hollywood / YouTube, Buzzfeed News
#14 Harrison Ford
A few years ago, Harrison Ford (82 years old) was told that he’s “still very hot,” to which the actor answered: “I’ve been blessed with this body. Thanks for noticing.”
Image source: Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube, Buzzfeed
#15 Tia Mowry
Tia Mowry, 46, was once urged to cover her gray hair: “Someone on set told me, ‘You really need to cover those gray hairs! Girls shouldn’t be seen that way.’ And I said, ‘No. I’m going to keep my gray hair. This is normal, this is what happens.’ Because at the end of the day, no matter what the trends are or what people tell me about how I should look, I define what beauty is for me. And for me, beauty is confidence, beauty is feeling good about yourself, beauty is embracing all of your flaws, and beauty is aging.”
Image source: TODAY with Jenna & Friends / YouTube, InStyle
#16 Denzel Washington
While in his mid 60s, Denzel Washington was listed on People’s famous ranking of the world’s sexiest men. Even at 70, he was crowned the winner of the “Sexy at Every Age” accolade.
Image source: Entertainment Tonight / YouTube
#17 Lenny Kravitz
Earlier this year, 60-year-old Lenny Kravitz was told he’s “getting better with age,” something that many people agree with.
Image source: Apple Music / YouTube, Rolling Out
#18 Idris Elba
In 2018, a then 46-year-old Idris Elba (now 52) was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive. And even now his charm and good appearance hasn’t failed to be mentioned. In fact, some even say that he’s “the ideal James Bond.”
Image source: WIRED / YouTube, GG
#19 David Beckham
David Beckham’s good looks have always been appreciated. This didn’t change when he turned 50—he has continued to be praised and is told that he “just gets better and better with age.”
Image source: CBS Sports Golazo / YouTube, Elle
#20 Madonna
In 2023, photos of Madonna’s—at the time, aged 64—face went viral with headlines saying that she “looks unrecognizable.” She clapped back at that by writing on Instagram: “Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim—Many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone’s face!!”
She added: “Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous.”
Image source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube, Madonna
#21 Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal, now aged 47, recalls a time when she was 37 years old and a movie producer said she was too old to play the love interest of a 55-year-old.
Image source: Vanity Fair / YouTube, The Wrap
#22 Beyonce
On her 40th birthday, Beyonce wrote on her website that it was the first year she really understood what it meant to be alive and live in the moment. She added: “The more mature I become, the more I understand and the deeper my joy grows…I’m finally giving myself permission to enjoy the seeds I’ve worked so hard to plant my whole life. Whoever tried to condition women to feel that we are supposed to feel old or unhappy when we turn 40 got it ALL THE WAY [messed] UP.”
Image source: Entertainment Tonight, Harpers Bazaar
#23 Colin Firth
Some people online are saying that Colin Firth’s new “more mature” look, which consists of salt-and-pepper hair, classic English style, and glasses suit him extremely well.
#24 Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey was named People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2023, when he was 57 years old, and has said: “I’m glad it’s happening at this point in my life”
Image source: Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube
#25 Meg Ryan
After the actress Meg Ryan, 63, was called “unrecognizable,” she said: “Our culture is so obsessed with youth. As an old person now, I love my age. I love where I’m at. Aging is not that terrifying. We’re all doing it. I wish someone had told me earlier, ‘Just relax. It is what it is. Don’t pay attention to the obstacles.’”
Image source: Entertainment Tonight / YouTube, Glamour
#26 Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. Henson has expressed that she wants to be “the representation for women that your sexy never dies ‘till you’re in the box.’” By that, she meant that she doesn’t want to let the world and the industry dictate how she lives her life and how she ages. “I’m going to turn 50 just like I turned 30, except you know, my knees are a little different. I’m not going to buy into my career is over, or, life for me is over, or sexy is over, or I shouldn’t wear this. I’m going to do what I feel.”
Image source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Vogue
#27 Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe, 61, preached about his youthful appearance, which leads him to talk about diet, exercise and other routines that led him to look this way. In fact, he even has his own skincare line, Profile Cobalt, in partnership with the Wounded Warriors Project, which launched in 2019. He explained: “There is this drive that I have that I think is the real reason I feel and look as vibrant as ever.”
Image source: First We Feast, Fox News
#28 Matthew Mcconaughey
55-year-old Matthew McConaughey is often featured in various lists praising men who are “aging like a fine wine.”
Image source: Chris Williamson / YouTube
#29 George Clooney
George Clooney is one of four people who have been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive twice—in 1999 and 2000. At the time, he was 38 and 39 years old, respectively. Now, aged 64, he is still praised for his “silver fox” looks.
Image source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert / YouTube, Today
#30 Renée Zellweger
Since with time, 56-year-old Renée Zellweger’s face has changed, this led people to speculate about her getting plastic surgery. So, the actress had this to say about it: “I’ve never see the maturation of a woman as a negative thing…Why do we value beauty over contribution? We don’t seem to value beauty over contribution from men.”
Image source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube, Time
#31 John Stamos
John Stamos, 61, is an actor whose looks are described as improving with age. The actor himself has said that much of that is due to his good genes, but on other occasions, he added that he enjoys things such as pilates and swimming. Getting enough sleep, the Mediterranean diet, and face masks help, too.
Image source: Adam Ray, Fox News
#32 John Krasinski
45-year-old John Krasinski is the most recent man to be named People’s “Sexiest Man Alive.” He admitted enjoying owning the title.
Image source: Late Night with Seth Meyers / YouTube
#33 Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise, no matter the age he is, has always been praised for his good looks. His turning 60 didn’t change anything.
Image source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube
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