Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman

by Brooke Shields

I’m learning to let go of any regret for things that were truly out of my control. When we’re younger, regret has some value—it can encourage us to make better choices.

I’m opening my eyes on a gurney in an ambulance, with an oxygen mask on … and Bradley Cooper is sitting next to me, holding my hand in both of his. Well, I guess I didn’t make it, I thought to myself. It was a good run.

when you’re struck by the natural beauty of the world or overcome with emotion because we get to live in it.

(Even now, as I write this, I know this will be the bit that makes headlines. Whatever. Women deserve all the information.)

My blood is boiling

For years I accepted as fact that doctors knew best, but now my first instinct is: “I know myself better than you do. I’ve lived in this body for almost sixty years. You may be a professional and have plenty of medical expertise, but I know my body.”

(not to mention the interrogation about my salt intake after my seizure) occurred with men.

“If the stereotype is to think women are more expressive than men, perhaps ‘overly’ expressive, then the tendency will be to discount women’s pain behaviors,” coauthor Elizabeth Losin said in the study’s press release.

“The flip side of this stereotype is that men are perceived to be stoic, so when a man makes an intense pain facial expression, you think, ‘Oh my, he must be dying!’” I had to laugh when I read this, considering

seriousness. A 2019 study found that Black patients are 40 percent less likely than white patients to be given medication for acute pain.

Most research supports the idea that child-free adults are happier than parents,

I think I had a misguided understanding of what feminism was, and I thought that being a feminist meant you had to be angry at men. I realize now, of course, that we can love men and still insist that they acknowledge they are a big part of the problem.

Being forward like that used to be terrifying to me because I hated confrontation. Now, gritting my teeth and pretending to be amused just doesn’t work for me. Standing up for myself and saying “That’s unacceptable to me now” has been empowering.

“You know, Mama? Every time I say something mean

to you, I wish I did not say it but I cannot stop it before it comes out of my lips.”

Changes in hormones affect your mood, your body, your comfort level.

appreciate the fragility of life.

Walk without pain or shame. Do not accept less for your life.