To think of myself as a girl at 50? [Light-hearted]

[ThisFluentBiscuit]

Well, I'm sorry, but I do. I don't think I've aged much at all - I don't look much different from when I was 28 I think, (🤭) and I looked girlish then. I'd rather be a girl, which has connotations of freedom and fun, than a woman, which has connotations of too much responsibility!

I think being called a girl is a big compliment. It means you look young. It's equivalent in the States to being called Miss instead of Ma'am. The dreaded ma'am!!!

This thread has been inspired by another thread where the OP says he's confused by a girl at work, who is 41. Some posters objected to any female over the age of 18 being called a girl.

Well, I'll still be identifying as a girl when I'm 80, probably!

Older celebrity women around my age who I think of as girls:
Kate Moss
Jennifer Aniston
Victoria Beckham

In my mind, the above and me are all still 28 but could pass for much younger. 😂😂😂

It's a good day when I'm referred to as a girl. 🤪 Also - and this is the most important part - even though my parents are dead and I'm post-menopausal, I FEEL like a girl!

So, AIBU??

Being called a girl is one thing. Good girl? That makes me ragey. It's what you say to a well-behaved dog or toddler, for Christ's sake!

Yes, I was about 57 at the time. My boss, who overheard the exchange said she silently cheered for me.

It never happened again😂

Absolutely this, Im really quite shocked at how denigrating some of these posts are about girls. Like girls are worthless.

Again an assumption by posters about what makes a girl, what is 'girly' as if its a low down, unwanted, unvaluable thing. Huge sex stereotypes here. No wonder kids who are quite vulnerable dont want to be girls and think they want to be, or are boys. These are the messages they are receiving from these 'strong women'.

Still a quine at 40.

57?! Blimey. How old was the cheeky so-and-so? Male or female? And what did you say?

A quine?

Yup. I remember, when I WAS a girl, a feeling of being looked-down-on, just because I was pretty feminine and liked makeup and ballet etc. No matter that I got straight As in my exams and played the piano to a relatively high standard. Made no difference in attitude towards me whatsoever.

Everything that's feminine is looked-down-on in our society, basically, whereas anything masculine is revered. Pink toys are bad, stereotypically female toys like dolls and kitchens are bad, pink itself is bad. As if stereotypically boy toys like guns and soldiers are so great! You'd think girls' toys would be the revered ones, since they're about compassion and caring and life skills (the toy kitchens), whereas many boys' toys are about violence. But nooooo, they're masculine, so they must be good. 🤬

Ideally we wouldn’t subscribe anything arbitrary like colour or choice of toys or outfits to sex. People would just have different personalities and like what they like. Every woman and girl is feminine because they are female. The rest is just stereotypes.

i don’t doubt you look great but honestly spend some time amongst young women in their 20s and you’ll realise you really don’t. I frequently get told I look a lot younger, can’t believe I have kids of a certain age blah blah blah but I also young female relatives in their 20s and work with a lot of young staff and they just look very different. They have a certain youthful je ne sais quois. I have never genuinely seen a woman over 40 who actually resembles a young person. And why should they?

Personally, I don't have stereotypes about what it is to be a girl.

As a primary school teacher, I teach lessons about gender stereotypes - no such thing as boy/girl colours/toys/jobs etc.
As a GC feminist, I am highly critical of both gender ideology (trans bollocks) and gender stereotypes.

I have a negative image - which this thread has done nothing to dispel - not about girls but about grown women who call themselves girls.
I think that I'm fairly safe in assuming that most, or all, of the posters who also describe themselves as women, hold similar views.

I'm surprised not to have come across more posts picking up on the offensive, ageist stereotypes held by many of the women who identify as girls.

Even those who insist it's not about looks and trying to appear physically younger than they really are, say that they will always be girls because they are positive, optimistic, full of energy, like to enjoy themselves etc.

So only girls can feel/act like that? What are women, then? I can't see the original op on the app on my phone but do remember some very negative perceptions of what it means to be a woman.

Well, I agree, but that's not very realistic considering that we do in fact have a bunch of very strong stereotypes.

They can change though, although it takes hundreds of years. In the past, pink was a masculine colour because it's a derivative of red, and lager was a ladies' drink! And remember how men in the 1700s wore long wigs and high heels!

You know, I bet if a toy kitchen was made to be less stereotypically feminine, with camo decor and a play stereo/big screen and a barbecue and espresso machine, nothing pink or baking-oriented and no pretty apron, everyone would say what a marvellous toy it was because it teaches children life skills. But the minute something is presented as stereotypically feminine, it's bad.

And I bet if boys wore glitter hairspray, everyone would say how wonderful that they're spreading positivity. But the minute a girl likes glittery hairspray, she's a bimbo.

The positives attitudes towards "boy" stuff and the negative attitudes towards "girl" stuff make me so mad.

It's not really about looks, though. It's a state of mine. And delusion! 🤣

Most of us live under some kind of delusion, though. That our time is not limited, that our loved ones won't die young, that cancer won't happen to US. Those delusions make us happy, and so does mine.

I'm 31 and much prefer being called a woman.

I was called “Miss” the other day in the airport, by the security guy. Was pathetically pleased about it.

@cariadlet "I can't see the original op on the app on my phone but do remember some very negative perceptions of what it means to be a woman."

I said that being a woman has connotations of too much responsibility. That's it.

I have a negative image...not about girls but about grown women who call themselves girls. I think that I'm fairly safe in assuming that most, or all, of the posters who also describe themselves as women, hold similar views.

Some sparkly hairspray will cure you of all that negativity and put a smile right on your face! Also recommend glittery shoes.

irregularchoice.com has a great selection.

@cariadlet I really think these would cheer you up:

What’s that river in Egypt called again?

The Mississippi. 🤭

I get it OP. I've only just started to feel like a proper grown up and I'm 61 😁

My finances are sensible, my house was hoovered within the last week, I can get up on time and I eat nutritionally balanced meals rather than a packet of cheesy cheddars and an apple. And I have remembered to pay my road tax!

Hopefully that means I won't sink into my dotage until I'm 130. 😃