A new study has found that women consider themselves old at 29, thanks to society's obsession with youth and beauty, while men feel old only at 58, around the time they can’t perform in the bedroom.
In the study, a quarter of women said that they felt old as soon as they spotted their first grey hairs, while the men did not consider themselves old until their sex lives were affected, the Daily Mail reported.
Both sexes' age perception
According to the study, carried out by Avalon Funeral Plans, society’s attitude towards youth and beauty is thought to have affected the difference of age related perception between the two sexes.
Commenting on the findings, psychologist Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University said, “In our society the attractiveness of women is quite important. Men don’t have to be good looking but, for some reason, it’s important for women to look presentable.
“Magazines are all about youth and are filled with young, attractive women. Women then start to perceive themselves as old when they no longer feel like this, when they don’t feel trendy or fashionable.
“Men, on the other hand, don’t have to be good looking, it doesn’t concern them,” as reported by the Daily Mail.
According to Cooper, who wasn't involved in the study, women generally feel matured at 30, at the time when they're expected to think about getting married and starting a family. On the other hand, the majority of men are much more career orientated, and they don't feel old until they've reached retirement age.
Survey findings
Of the surveyed women, 10 percent said they feel old when they think their once-youthful skin has started to lose its glow.
Another 50 percent said they felt old when their "assets" started to droop, which often occurs after childbirth and breastfeeding and further 3 percent said their true age hit them when they started behaving like their mothers.
Men think differently
For men, two-thirds of them simply felt past their prime when they couldn't perform sexually any longer, and 22 percent said they felt their age as soon as they started noticing that music in bars was too loud, the findings showed.
"Nobody actually feels young or old, you're told you're young or old by the media," University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Christos Ballas told AOL Health. "The media tells you if you're a woman, your prime is 30; if you're a man you can make it work past 60."
"It also puts a lot of pressure on men," Ballas said, "because the average man doesn't stay good-looking and sexual all the way through his 50s."
Both sexes' age perception
According to the study, carried out by Avalon Funeral Plans, society’s attitude towards youth and beauty is thought to have affected the difference of age related perception between the two sexes.
Commenting on the findings, psychologist Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University said, “In our society the attractiveness of women is quite important. Men don’t have to be good looking but, for some reason, it’s important for women to look presentable.
“Magazines are all about youth and are filled with young, attractive women. Women then start to perceive themselves as old when they no longer feel like this, when they don’t feel trendy or fashionable.
“Men, on the other hand, don’t have to be good looking, it doesn’t concern them,” as reported by the Daily Mail.
According to Cooper, who wasn't involved in the study, women generally feel matured at 30, at the time when they're expected to think about getting married and starting a family. On the other hand, the majority of men are much more career orientated, and they don't feel old until they've reached retirement age.
Survey findings
Of the surveyed women, 10 percent said they feel old when they think their once-youthful skin has started to lose its glow.
Another 50 percent said they felt old when their "assets" started to droop, which often occurs after childbirth and breastfeeding and further 3 percent said their true age hit them when they started behaving like their mothers.
Men think differently
For men, two-thirds of them simply felt past their prime when they couldn't perform sexually any longer, and 22 percent said they felt their age as soon as they started noticing that music in bars was too loud, the findings showed.
"Nobody actually feels young or old, you're told you're young or old by the media," University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Christos Ballas told AOL Health. "The media tells you if you're a woman, your prime is 30; if you're a man you can make it work past 60."
"It also puts a lot of pressure on men," Ballas said, "because the average man doesn't stay good-looking and sexual all the way through his 50s."
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