Do women really age worse than men?

[CoalTit]

I just read a novel where the protagonist thinks at one point how women age worse than men, and it took me back to a couple of boyfriends in the nineties saying that as if it were just something that everyone knows. I was really surprised that anyone would think the sex that goes bald ages better. Do any women think men age better than women?
YABU: yes, women age (physically) worse than men do.
YANBU: no, men as a class age just as badly as women.

I think men age more gradually over a longer period of their life, women have the short sharp shock of menopause to contend with. But they both reach the same point in the end.

I think men are just as likely to get fat and slobby, possibly even more so as there's less scrutiny on their appearance and more on status/wealth.

However, truthfully speaking I do think they age better if all else is equal. Very few women look their best at 40 but plenty of men are as sexy at 40 as they are at 30. I think a factor is that we age in the face in an undesirable way but men often get that grey, slightly rugged look which can look really good if physically in shape.

Also, I think men in their 20s just look like kids and aren't really 'men' until their 30s. Women, however, generally look the most beautiful in their 20s, although many still look stunning into 30s.

It’s a combination of lifestyle and genetics, I don’t think the sexes differ that much at all really, except maybe childbearing and menopause.
I know quite a few men who spend most of their working day outdoors and their are quite wrinkly for their age, but in a good way, and they look quite a bit better than their wives who work in offices.
id also say that a person’s mindset affects how they look too, and unfortunately men seem to ossify into cranky bores and a very very much higher rate than women.

Nearly 20 years ago I went to a 25 year school reunion (yes I am that old!)

I had seen very few of the people there since leaving. What was noticeable was that the women were nearly all easily recognisable. It wouldn't be quite true to say "Oh you haven't changed a bit", but they all looked just slightly older versions of themselves at 16.

The men however were all very, very much different and looked much older than themselves at 16. I suppose the difference between a skinny, 16 year old lad with lots of hair and a 40-something, slightly balding man was always going to be quite marked.

Have you actually seen most men? I joined Facebook when I was in my early 30s and living abroad and I was in shock at how the majority of the male friends I hadn't seen in around 7 years had aged. Most of them looked absolutely awful. The only men who still looked good were the ones who actively kept fit. In the last decade I've noticed that within about 6 months of stopping keeping fit, those men started looking awful. Because of the way they store fat, excess weight on a man is unflattering right away. If they start losing their hair and don't keep it with a fairly close crop from then on, they look pretty bad. Even if they do keep it to a close crop, only some men can really pull off that style. There are a lot of men who do not look particularly good with receding hair and there is nothing they can do to change that. If their skin is grey or ruddy from an unhealthy lifestyle it shows up very quickly.

On the other hand, women who didn't keep fit and put on excess weight for the most part still keep an attractive shape. We mostly keep our hair and a nice head of hair can make a huge difference to how we look. If our skin looks bad we have the option of make-up, which just isn't as socially acceptable on men. Like men, if we do keep fit, even with pregnancy damage and through menopause, our bodies can keep a shape we associate with youth, right into old age. But unlike the majority of men, the majority of us do it with potentially great hair and a much more acceptable option to accentuate our best features and cover up our skin problems with make-up.

Oh and if it makes any difference as someone who is attracted to men and women, since I entered my 40s I have seen absolutely no real life men who I would be remotely interested in having sex with. None. (The only men who pique my interest are tv/movie stars.) On the other hand, attractive women are everywhere.

I'm in my 50s and it's definitely the case that the women are ageing much better than the men. I'm also dating and you should see the 50s men on OLD! (although they all lie about their age).

The truth is that society tolerates ageing of men but not of women.

Of course not.

This is just the usually misogynist society trying to imply that only women age and lose their looks while men remain desirable.

Also it really depends on the individual and how they take care of their health and appearance. Someone who does not drink too excess or smoke, takes care of their skin and who has a healthy diet and an active lifestyle will look better as they age than someone who has a poor diet, smokes, sunbathes.

@ClocksGoingBackwards ''I think women age worse than men, but that’s partly because many men become more attractive as they get older whereas women are often at their most attractive in their twenties and thirties.''

Typical example of internalised misogyny. Men do not become more attractive as they get older. You only have to take a look at any dating site or your average office to see that most middle-aged men are not any better looking than they were in tenor 20s/30s and that the majority will be balding, heavier with a very basic (or non existent) sense of style. There is nothing wrong with ageing but it is ludicrous to suggest that women lose their looks while men get better looking...

I think its bollocks. But also highly dependent on socio economics. I work in the city and by and large all the men and women of all ages look equally fabulous.
however take a walk down my local high street and both men and women of all ages look pretty crap

Women are judged far more harshly than men, for everything ageing, weight fluctuation and what they wear.

It's partly misogyny from men being "allowed" to age and women aren't as others have said.

But it is also the misogyny of more women who work full time and yet do almost all the housework, cooking, mental organising of a household, childcare yet ZERO for themselves whether thst is regular sport/exercise, hobbies, time with friends, get enough sleep, etc...that of course ages you rapidly and there aren't that many men who do this. Personally I was raised by a mother who took time for herself and her own wellbeing and I have followed that example into my own adulthood. I'm not being arrogant when I say I look and feel a lot younger than friends I've had since my school days. No bloody wonder you feel like you are running on empty when you run yourself ragged looking after everyone but yourself.

Absolutely 💯

100% men (in general) age faster and worse than women

They don't take care of themselves in the same way that (most) women do

Just go on any dating app and have a look... men over 30 are absolutely diabolical, they look old before their time

I think it depends on how much they take care of themselves. Plenty of saggy people of either age wearing leggings and shapeless tops.

I was looking at some old photos a few weeks ago and found one when I was 20. I showed it to my son who's 20 in a few months' time and said "this is me when I was your age" and he said "but you look exactly the same"! Lovely son :) If I could get rid of the eye bags I would look the same!

I've got the dadbod ex too, a lad I went out with in sixth form and he is fat now, not just "filled out". My DH still looks after himself and looks ok, he's not fat. And another ex who'd I not seen for ten years also looks good for his age too.

Depends what you class as aging badly. Lookswise, who gives a shit.

I do however know way more women with major health problems at my age (40ish), than I do men. Women generally go through a hell of a lot more physically then men in their 30's, and it takes its toll

I think women take on a lot of the family stresses, including their husbands stressy things, and to that extent I think they age more quickly. I have noticed, looking a film starts, that the men 'hold their face' longer, look like themselves longer, until their 80's, at which point their face completely crumbles and becomes unrecognisable as who they are. Women, though their 'looks' go a bit quicker, stay at that level longer and gradually get their old face where they stay without the sudden crumble the men get.

@Wanderingowl “since I entered my 40s I have seen absolutely no real life men who I would be remotely interested in having sex with. None.”

I think it’s interesting to see different people’s take on what ageing means re attractiveness, beauty, and/or shaggability.
Some people who liked like beautiful ripe peaches in the physical peak of their 20’s age very poorly, whereas some who looked like drowned rats flower into a kind of aquiline beauty as they age.
Personally I find beauty, attractiveness and “sexiness” do not necessarily correlate to each other at all.

Brutal misogyny is what that is, the truth is what it isn’t!

Having kids is no excuse to age worse.

Women who have children live longer than those who don’t, so what’s that al about then?

People either care about how they look and their health, or they don’t.

I think men are worse overall.

This surprises me.

What kids of health problems are these women experiencing?

I trust this is not menopause related?

The words Floella Benjamin are the two happiest words in the world.

Men age like wine
Women age like cheese

To quote a Poster from a couple of weeks ago, along the lines of: most men over 45 all look the same - like potatoes with eyes. I am afraid she was right. I am 70 and look 15 years younger than most of my male contemporaries and apart from my fit DH, would not touch any of them with a bargepole. This is without even considering the grumpy (bad tempered) ways of many of them.

Over 50% of all women of European and Asian heritage will experience Osteopenia post menopause. Over 40% of those women will go on to develop full Osteoporosis. That alone is extremely serious and it's an issue that rarely affects men.

It’s not a myth. The menopause and the lack of oestrogen really does a number on us -particularly facially. It’s biology.

Indivdually some men appear to age worse than some women.. If they let themselves go/ more likely to be bald. But generally in terms of sagging and wrinkles women do worse.