I don't appear to exist anymore.

[Incitatis]

I'm 47 and it is quite a disconcerting experience for me.

I have noticed, over the last few months, that people no longer talk to me when I'm out and about with dh. They talk to him as the default, and may glance at me or nod if I say something, but not a proper conversation. I've also began sentences, then they just ignore me and talk over me.

I have also been quite roughly bumped into by about three older men. They just walk into me. I called one of them on it as it was so blatant.

Is this what happens? I don't like attention, but it would be nice if people were at least polite.

Dh has also ignored and didn't take my advice regarding something and now he's having to live with the consequences.

Could it be more of a case that you're feeling insecure or sensitive for some reason and so you're noticing things that you may not have before?
I'm 30 and have met many men (and women) in my life that talk over me and others. Equally I feel that if I'm walking down the road I am ALWAYS the one that moves for others, or they would just walk straight into me. Many people are just rude in general, I bet it's not to do with your age

Some people do say late forties is a time that women become more invisible in that way that younger women are not. I haven't noticed it enormously, I have noticed that (rightly) younger men don't look twice at me, the age range has shifted to about 45-70, fine by me. In terms of being ignored, I don't feel ignored socially but I do socialize a lot by myself as husband not always able to join in, which at times makes me self-conscious (as not the 'happy couple') but on the plus side, they can't focus on him as there's only me! Work-wise, older=more status= more people want to talk with you in my profession, so the opposite is probably true.

Sometimes I have noticed people in general being rude lately and just walking along without moving out of the way, I think this is a more recent trend, I don't think it is just for me though, they seem to bump into my children as well.

I do think you become more invisible though as you age, I think that's probably the case for men as well as women, unless you are George Clooney, certainly in the street, I don't look at 60 year old men, who does? But perhaps they have status in the workplace to make up for it.

Perhaps people are becoming ruder. I just haven't noticed before. I have always had to move over for others on the pavement too Miss

It's particularly infuriating when there's a group of 4 people all walking in a row side by side, and singular me comes along and they don't even move into single file. Many times I've had to dismount the pavement onto the road to pass people like this. I'm always really gobsmacked at the sheer rudeness.

It's particularly infuriating when there's a group of 4 people all walking in a row side by side, and singular me comes along and they don't even move into single file

That is just rudeness. I don't honestly think you can say 1 group is more likely to do it than another and that one group is more likely to suffer from it than another.

I see this being remarked upon on here and I did wonder recently standing at the bar at very busy music venue in London if the harassed bar person would serve the young man who was beside me but was later than me first. The bar maid sort of vaguely went "next?" and as I'm a very assertive person I was going to say "me" but he got in first to say I was before him. Doesn't really prove anything beyond he had good manners and she was rushed off her feet.

I apologize if my previous comment was untoward. I'm not out to hurt peoples' feelings, but it's occurring to me now that this forum is not like most, that are a lot more mean-spirited and where a comment like that would just be taken as a joke.