to think that 35 is not middle-aged

[vic77en]

My colleague yesterday referred to someone as middle-aged. When I said they weren't middle aged, were maybe early-mid thirties, he said that 35 was middle-aged.

I guess technically it's half of the "3 score years and 10" but FFS life expectancy for a woman is 80-something, no?

I am 34 and do not feel ready to be middle-aged for at least another 10 years.

So when do you think "middle-age" starts?

My Mum (67) takes great delight in pointing out to me any news items etc that contain the words 'a middle aged woman, 36' or similar. I will be 38 soon :(
My Gran is nearly 94 and assures me that no matter how old you get, in your head you remain in your early twenties.

I am 46 and I am in late-youth.

I was once called old when I was 28

FionaJT your gran is right. In my head I still feel as if I'm in my early twenties but with more confidence now than I had then.

35 is when middle age starts and lasts to around 45, then you are just plain old.

You may not like middle age starting but it has to start somewhere and it has to end somewhere.

It is only numbers and you are as young as you feel. I don't feel very much diffrent from when I was 30 years ago

who cares

MIDDLE YOUTH!

as you were

LOL Vintage Cointreau !

I'm 47 and technically according to my docs post menopausal.

BUT I am really active and I ride, ski and am out walking every day. I refuse to consider myself middle aged until my kids can out ski me. I reckon I have about a year left!

I would say its 40-60, after 60 is heading towards old age. I am 43 and accept I am in the middle aged bracket.

I like Middle Youth - sounds much more fun. IMO youth is wasted on the young!

I'm 35 and got refused a bottle of wine in a supermarket last week as I had no ID!!! Was quite tempted to lift my top and ask if these looked like the breasts of an under 18yr old!!!

Nobody has said exactly what I think which is that it is defined by your childbearing years, for a woman, anyway. As lots of people don't even get down to business til they're about 40, and can quite easily go on to have two or three children, I don't think middle age can be before the mid-forties. I suppose men have to be classified about the same, though as we know many of them never grow up!

There are loose definitions throughout life of what is a baby/toddler, what is a child (different legal definitions for different things, or actual physical 'adulthood' i.e. puberty which varies enormously), and I think middle-age is a very vague one, but to me it definitely means post childbearing and pre-pension.

I think it depends what stage you're at in terms of milestones in life.

My mum got married at 19, had her first child at 20 and became a grandmother at the age of 40. Now at 51 she keeps saying how she's such an old lady and its like she's written off the rest of her life.

At (nearly) 30 I feel like I've only just become a proper grown up. DP is 35 and no way am I sharing my bed with a middle aged man! He's in better shape and looks younger than a lot of men in their 20s; and in terms of his life its only just beginning- in the past 5 years he's settled down, become a father, got a phd and started to get his career on track.

When I hear "Middle aged" I think 40-60ish. The term has such negative connotations but for many people they're the best years of their life- maybe we should be embracing it!

It's all about outlook. I am 41 and yet I don't feel much different from how I did when I was 28. I think I have more in common with a 28-year-old than with a 54-year old.

elastamum I love the skiing yardstick idea. I think I have about 2 years left, which will make me middle aged 3 years younger than you...

I am 49 and much as I would like to deny it, would probably say I am just or almost Middle-aged.

I have found that since about mid 40s the human body does start to tell you that you are no longer 'young'.

Eyes start going (reading glasses needed soon), weight which I have never had a problem with throughout my life, is starting to settle around my middle and the old joints are showing the first signs of wear.

Having said that, I don't have a single grey hair and have been told by DS1 that his friends think I look pretty good for my age (not the kind of thing DS would normally come out).

When he describes a man of that age as middled aged, then I could accept it, but there's no way a man of 35 would ever be described as middle aged.

Women can still have children until about 41 or 42 usually, so it isn't possible to be middle-aged and still in your child bearing years imo.

taken literally, to have middle age at 50 would suggest most live to 100;
they certainly do not. So 45 is ok.

Chambers Dictionary

middle-aged - 'between youth and old age, variously reckoned to suit the reckoner'

of course some people are born middle-aged so it's not a number at all IMO, it's just a state of mind

There are always exceptions, but as someone a bit over 50, I consider women

25-45 as young
45-60 as mature
60-70 as middle aged
70+ as senior

young women under 25 are still young women (as if I called them anything else I'd be belted :) ) and I do adjust the 'age brackets' a bit so some frail lady in her late 50s/60s may be classed as senior, a lady with a 'blue rinse' in her 50s might be 'middle aged' and so on.

Men are another kettle of fish - thinking of how so many men work until they are 65, if possible, then for men

up to 30 are (mostly) immature (esp if they have a fast car or several beers!)
30-55 as mature
55-65 as middle aged
65+ as senior (and if unlucky they don't reach 70)

I don't get what's wrong with being middle-aged. I'm 46 and that's definitely not young. 18 is young; 25 is still young. Once you get past your mid-30s, I reckon you're a teensy bit delusional if you think you're still young (cf. stats on women's declining fertility post-35). I'm reasonably well-preserved and can still do a handstand better than my 12 year old daughter. But that doesn't change the FACT that I am middle-aged. But then I love slippers........

NetworkGuy's post reminds me of:

Between the ages of 15 ? 20, a woman is like Africa.
She is half discovered, half wild.

Between the ages of 20 ? 30, a woman is like America.
She is fully discovered and scientifically perfect.

Between the ages of 30 ? 35, a woman is like India and Japan.
She is very hot, wise and beautiful.

Between the ages of 35 ? 40, a woman is like France.
She is half destroyed after the war but still desirable.

Between the ages of 40 ? 50, a woman is like Germany.
Though she lost the war, there is still hope.

Between the ages of 50 ? 60, a woman is like Russia.
She is very wide, very quiet but nobody goes there.

Between the ages of 60 ? 70, a woman is like England.
She has a glorious past but the future is uncertain.

Between the ages of 70 and above, a woman is like Siberia.
Everyone knows her location, but no one wants to go there.

Well I would take middle aged as being in the middle of your adulthood. So if life expectancy is around 80 middle aged would be (80-18)/2 +18 = 49.

36 and definitely NOT middle aged.

if average life is 85-90 or so then reckon you have to be AT LEAST 45 or so to qualify as a middle-ager...and then it's the middle aged PERIOD of your life which spans several years, not one actual year...phew.

Im 46 and do think 35 is middle aged, people live to around 75/80.