The XX Factor

How Not to Act Old

The great genius of How Not to Act Old is that it simultaneously taps into our anxieties and deflates them. Most of the time, it’s hard to tell whether Pamela Redmond Satran is making fun of the youth or the old folks. Like Julia, I find myself nervously going through her checklists .  Phew, I hate Bruce Springsteen, always have. Shoot, I do love my salty fries. Does that make my real age 26 or 53? European women have mastered the art of aging fabulously. I just got back from France, where women in their forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond manage to look simultaneously beautiful and age-appropriate. Here, not so much. We have to get Botoxed and lifted and pretend to just adore Twitter. Or else we have to go dowdy and get our hair done in a style my friend calls the “mom,” which used to be called “butch-dyke.” Sigh.