LifestyleThe GuardianOlder women are as varied and individual as we have ever been | Letters
A psychologist and comedian Jo Brand both push back on the pressure to 'age successfully', saying older women deserve to grow old on their own terms.
Thank you, Jo Brand, for not offering us a formula for growing older, writes Dr Denise Taylor . Plus a letter from Louise Mothersole I found Jo Brand’s reflections on approaching 70 wonderfully refreshing ( ‘It’s far too late for me to go to the gym every 10 minutes’: Jo Brand on ageing, raging, fit
Readers wrote in praising Jo Brand's refreshingly honest reflections on approaching 70 without turning ageing into a self-improvement project.
Dr Denise Taylor, a 69-year-old chartered psychologist who researches later life, says ageing is not a competition and older women are as varied as they have ever been.
A second letter writer offers a cheerful counterpoint, sharing how she and her 73-year-old partner went from couch potatoes to running 5km three times a week.
If the constant advice to exercise more and reinvent yourself feels exhausting, a 69-year-old psychologist says that pressure is worth questioning, not just accepting.
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