older, wiser and having more fun

Talk about a generation gap. On the one hand we have the swathe of teenagers whose lives have been blighted to some degree by an eating disorder (one in 250 experience anorexia, with many more suffering some other varieties of food-related problem).

And on the other we have the 30 per cent of over-50s, according to a new sex survey, who have had an affair.

Far be it from me to condone an affair! Heavens no. But which would you rather be: a “thin, absent person”, in the words of former anorexic Grace Bowman, dedicated to denial, self-abnegation

and fashionable ascetism, or the Wife of Bath, getting her jollies ’til the last?

Being young is terribly hard, but, with Helen Mirren scooping up Golden Globes and still looking terrific (it must be all that sex she sets her alarm clock early to have) being old(er) doesn’t seem anything like as bad as it used to.

Those clever bods at Dove have even come up with a new slogan, not ‘anti-age" but ‘pro-age’, to sell their new product line. All in all, saying ‘Yes!’ to life instead of ‘No’ to cake suddenly makes perfect sense.

Laura Tennant

go back...page 6 of 7