ain’t nothing but a number
“Age ain’t nothing but a number.”
That’s what a twenty something said to me last week. I laughed. And as I glanced around the tavern and bopped to the music ( a “top forty” tune that I loved singing with my band) I realized that maybe it was true.
“You’re as young as you feel!”
Well, in that case, I am about one hundred years old yesterday. Seriously folks, I feel pretty young. I don’t feel like I’m approaching fifty (in two years)
So it was with much amusement that I noticed the birthdate placed on a friend’s web site.
We were born in 1961.
She has listed her birthdate as 1969!!!
I was so shocked. But… she doesn’t look like she’s pushing fifty. And she is in show business. She’s an actress on television and a writer. I guess that says it all. We do live in a society that values youth and beauty. And no business values it more than television and movies. I am not naive, but still, I have to admit that I was taken aback.
Wow! It’s like she had to protect herself against future discrimination. When should one start setting one’s birth year forward? When you are 30? 35?
Hell, I’m in showbusiness, Maybe I should start rebirthing myself.
Too bad cause I was just priding myself on the history I had witnessed: Dr. Martin Luther King, The Jackson 5, The Brady Bunch, SNL (Belushi, Gilda, Chevy Chase) I know who Garrett Morris is…
But this has thrown me for a loop… well a little.
Mostly, I’m just amused.
Age is definitely more than a number…
Tags: age, aging and women, Facebook, Linkedin, Lynne Jordan, saturday night live, social network, youth
Filed under: In the Life of a Diva
Subscribe to the 
Leave a
Hey Lynne… it is wisdom that comes with age and there is no need to hide it! I am 55 and proud of it! 50 is the new 30 anyway. Love ya!
dev
http://www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
1 Devany said this (September 23, 2009 at 1:13 pm)
Ah yes….my parents being Belafonte devotees gave me Mr. Morris early and then when I babysat for someone who had cable, when I was in high school, I got to see him on SNL. As for the numbers-they and their weight/significance change in accordance to your satisfaction with life….My heart and mind are around 17, my body started fucking against me (as opposed to fucking WITH me…) a few years ago AND I’VE BEEN 29 for 14 years. I still know that I don’t know much and at least remember that I’m forgetting something….have few regrets and would like to pare that few down to NONE.
Age-all God’s etchings..
xo
Michelle
2 criollorubi0 said this (September 23, 2009 at 11:58 pm)
I agree. Last night I spent the evening with a lovely 23 year old woman. she seemed so fragile. I kept thinking to myself that I was so much stronger at her age though just as naive in some ways. I had absolutely no desire to switch places with her.
3 Lynne said this (September 24, 2009 at 2:37 pm)
I read somewhere that you should ask yourself the question, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”
I guess we’re stuck with the answer for better or worse ;-D
4 avisw said this (September 25, 2009 at 12:26 pm)
I totally agree Lynne, age is really defined by how you feel. This culture puts a whole lot of pressure on women to be young but you don’t have to give into it. I don’t look anywhere near my age of 44 and I don’t feel it either. People think I’m about a decade younger and I let them assume but I never lie when asked. I think your friend is intimidated by Hollywood expectations of youth, which can affect her ability to get work. I have male friends in Hollywood that lie about their age too. I think that a singer in the jazz and blues genre isn’t necessarily expected to be a twenty-something and it’s actually a liability if you are. It’s probably never occurred to you to lie about your age because it doesn’t affect your career. I say, keep on hanging with the twenty-somethings and show them how it’s done!
5 Fly Girl said this (September 26, 2009 at 9:47 am)
Personally, I feel young, my knees however keep trying to prove otherwise!
6 Lynne said this (October 27, 2009 at 12:08 am)