Why are women in their 30s considered old and men are not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP and I am a woman. I'm just saying like it is. Women dont age as well unless they try real hard like J. Lo.

This has been rehashed in other threads in the beauty forum: people of color usually age better than Caucasians. General thought is because there is more melanin, less sun damage, and more moisturizing that is done since darker complexions see dryness in their skin and use lotion to hydrate before they feel it getting tight and dry. Helps ward off wrinkles and eye bags. African, Asian, Hispanic, and Indian men and women have some of the most supple beautiful skin in old age.

I also want to add that these cultures you mention also discourage sunbathing/tanning and that in itself accounts for the vast difference between Caucasians and nonwhite races in terms of aging. I mean, it's also true that there are biological differences in skin structure but sun worshipping doesn't do white women any good either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard all this scary stuff about being in your late 30s and having fertility issues. Then I conceived two kids at 36 and 39 our first month trying both times. I know a lot of women like me including my mother who had an Oops baby at 43 -but no one ever talks about this.

Fertility does decline. You were lucky. I had to use a reproductive endo at age 30. There were women in their 30s crying everyday at the clinic. He has the highest success rate in my city (not DC) and he even said, fertility declines I see it everyday.

I'm 33 now and it's all about that. I look good but my clock internally for babies is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard all this scary stuff about being in your late 30s and having fertility issues. Then I conceived two kids at 36 and 39 our first month trying both times. I know a lot of women like me including my mother who had an Oops baby at 43 -but no one ever talks about this.

Fertility does decline. You were lucky. I had to use a reproductive endo at age 30. There were women in their 30s crying everyday at the clinic. He has the highest success rate in my city (not DC) and he even said, fertility declines I see it everyday.

I'm 33 now and it's all about that. I look good but my clock internally for babies is different.

The only people who go to your endo are the ones who have trouble TTC...it's self selection hello....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard all this scary stuff about being in your late 30s and having fertility issues. Then I conceived two kids at 36 and 39 our first month trying both times. I know a lot of women like me including my mother who had an Oops baby at 43 -but no one ever talks about this.

Fertility does decline. You were lucky. I had to use a reproductive endo at age 30. There were women in their 30s crying everyday at the clinic. He has the highest success rate in my city (not DC) and he even said, fertility declines I see it everyday.

I'm 33 now and it's all about that. I look good but my clock internally for babies is different.

OMG. But I think most women in their 20s don't even start trying for a baby yet! Some of them might be infertile already - but they just don't know YET. That's why they show up at the reproductive clinic in their 30s.

How can your fight research and numbers with merely anecdotal data?

In my late 20s, my OB used to scare me with decreased fertility but I wasn't ready. Then I got pregnant at 31 and 37 within ONE month of trying. So for every story how a woman couldn't get pregnant in her 30's there's another a story how another woman actually could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women will always look their best in their 20's. They are not old in their 30's but because of declining fertility women have been viewed as becoming old in their 30's. That's not to say that women in their 40's and older can't be attractive but they don't have the same supple skin as when they were 20.

The day women realise they have more to offer than their looks is when they will find happiness. Chasing youth with surgery and botox screams of insecurity to me.

What is supple skin? line free and wrinkle free? cause I met plenty of 20 somethings with lines, bags, acne, etc.

Younger skin is dewy, smooth, plump, soft. As you age you get fine lines, larger pores, it's drier. It's aging, it's ok. Older women aren't suppose to be the same as younger women, even in ethnic races you can tell an older face, they get harder somehow.

[Anonymous]

It’s not that unusual to get pregnant in your early 40s. Before birth control, women did this all the time. Check geneologies from the past. Women were having kids for 20+ years.

Though, it’s possible that having your first child after 40 might be different than having your seventh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard all this scary stuff about being in your late 30s and having fertility issues. Then I conceived two kids at 36 and 39 our first month trying both times. I know a lot of women like me including my mother who had an Oops baby at 43 -but no one ever talks about this.

Fertility does decline. You were lucky. I had to use a reproductive endo at age 30. There were women in their 30s crying everyday at the clinic. He has the highest success rate in my city (not DC) and he even said, fertility declines I see it everyday.

I'm 33 now and it's all about that. I look good but my clock internally for babies is different.

I have a friend who started TTC at 22, and it took 5 years of fertility treatments before it happened. So starting young isn't a guarantee either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women will always look their best in their 20's. They are not old in their 30's but because of declining fertility women have been viewed as becoming old in their 30's. That's not to say that women in their 40's and older can't be attractive but they don't have the same supple skin as when they were 20.

The day women realise they have more to offer than their looks is when they will find happiness. Chasing youth with surgery and botox screams of insecurity to me.

What is supple skin? line free and wrinkle free? cause I met plenty of 20 somethings with lines, bags, acne, etc.

Younger skin is dewy, smooth, plump, soft. As you age you get fine lines, larger pores, it's drier. It's aging, it's ok. Older women aren't suppose to be the same as younger women, even in ethnic races you can tell an older face, they get harder somehow.

Well duh. My skin was more supple at age 15 and looked its best ever at that age. It was free of blemishes and smooth. People's skin start to age in their 20's and I know many white people who have wrinkles at that age. Most people in their 20's start to get fine lines and larger pores (hormone fluctuations, periods, etc). My skin is still oily as it was in my teens but not as bad as it was in my 20's when this shit cleanser gave me pimples. If I'm the same as my grandma my skin will still be oily in my 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women will always look their best in their 20's. They are not old in their 30's but because of declining fertility women have been viewed as becoming old in their 30's. That's not to say that women in their 40's and older can't be attractive but they don't have the same supple skin as when they were 20.

The day women realise they have more to offer than their looks is when they will find happiness. Chasing youth with surgery and botox screams of insecurity to me.

What is supple skin? line free and wrinkle free? cause I met plenty of 20 somethings with lines, bags, acne, etc.

Younger skin is dewy, smooth, plump, soft. As you age you get fine lines, larger pores, it's drier. It's aging, it's ok. Older women aren't suppose to be the same as younger women, even in ethnic races you can tell an older face, they get harder somehow.

Agree about the harder face but those of us with round or moon faces (not chubby though) run a lesser risk of getting a hard aging face. Also again I never ask people how old I look but they do tell me how much younger I look when they find out my age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women will always look their best in their 20's. They are not old in their 30's but because of declining fertility women have been viewed as becoming old in their 30's. That's not to say that women in their 40's and older can't be attractive but they don't have the same supple skin as when they were 20.

The day women realise they have more to offer than their looks is when they will find happiness. Chasing youth with surgery and botox screams of insecurity to me.

What is supple skin? line free and wrinkle free? cause I met plenty of 20 somethings with lines, bags, acne, etc.

Younger skin is dewy, smooth, plump, soft. As you age you get fine lines, larger pores, it's drier. It's aging, it's ok. Older women aren't suppose to be the same as younger women, even in ethnic races you can tell an older face, they get harder somehow.

Agree about the harder face but those of us with round or moon faces (not chubby though) run a lesser risk of getting a hard aging face. Also again I never ask people how old I look but they do tell me how much younger I look when they find out my age.

Oily skin does age better... But people often say someone looks younger just to be nice. Anyway, what are they supposed to say after they find out your age? "Wow, you look older!' or 'Yes, you look just your age'?? Of course they will say you look younger.

I once asked my coworker how old was she and when she answered I was so shocked because she looked significantly older to me. To explain my surprised look I had to say that she looks younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because women peak in 20s/early 30s. Men don't.

Fertility wise maybe but certainly not in terms of anything else. If you're an immature man or a young woman you believe otherwise, of course, because of your own insecurities. But nah, woman peak as they age. Go ahead and argue with me. *shrug*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not that unusual to get pregnant in your early 40s. Before birth control, women did this all the time. Check geneologies from the past. Women were having kids for 20+ years.

Though, it’s possible that having your first child after 40 might be different than having your seventh.

You're introducing selection bias, PP. When you look at genealogies, you only consider women who were successful at getting pregnant and keeping the pregnancies. You are not considering all of the women who wanted more children (or just one child) who could not conceive or carry a pregnancy to term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
:

"Surprisingly few well-designed studies of female age and natural fertility include women born in the 20th century—but those that do tend to paint a more optimistic picture. One study, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2004 and headed by David Dunson (now of Duke University), examined the chances of pregnancy among 770 European women. It found that with sex at least twice a week, 82 percent of 35-to-39-year-old women conceive within a year, compared with 86 percent of 27-to-34-year-olds. (The fertility of women in their late 20s and early 30s was almost identical—news in and of itself.) Another study, released this March in Fertility and Sterility and led by Kenneth Rothman of Boston University, followed 2,820 Danish women as they tried to get pregnant. Among women having sex during their fertile times, 78 percent of 35-to-40-year-olds got pregnant within a year, compared with 84 percent of 20-to-34-year-olds. A study headed by Anne Steiner, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, the results of which were presented in June, found that among 38- and 39-year-olds who had been pregnant before, 80 percent of white women of normal weight got pregnant naturally within six months (although that percentage was lower among other races and among the overweight). “In our data, we’re not seeing huge drops until age 40,” she told me."

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/how-long-can-you-wait-to-have-a-baby/309374/

In other words, fertility in most of your 30s is not all that much different from fertility in your 20s.

The reason 30 year old women are considered "old" is that their value is still intrinsically tied to reproduction in our sexist world. Eventually this comes around to men too -- it just takes a decade longer, when people start looking askance at never-married 40-year old men.

with sex at least twice a week, 82 percent of 35-to-39-year-old women conceive within a year, compared with 86 percent of 27-to-34-year-olds.

You must stop all those "decreased fertility' comments. Above is a quote from page 3 or 4 - but who cares about the facts, right?

Sorry, PP. Among older women, the miscarriage rate is the determining factor in fertility, not the conception rate, and the miscarriage rate starts to increase between 25 and 30 years of age, and hits an astoundingly high rate of over 80% by age 45:

https://expectingscience.com/2015/08/26/lies-damned-lies-and-miscarriage-statistics/#womansage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
:

"Surprisingly few well-designed studies of female age and natural fertility include women born in the 20th century—but those that do tend to paint a more optimistic picture. One study, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2004 and headed by David Dunson (now of Duke University), examined the chances of pregnancy among 770 European women. It found that with sex at least twice a week, 82 percent of 35-to-39-year-old women conceive within a year, compared with 86 percent of 27-to-34-year-olds. (The fertility of women in their late 20s and early 30s was almost identical—news in and of itself.) Another study, released this March in Fertility and Sterility and led by Kenneth Rothman of Boston University, followed 2,820 Danish women as they tried to get pregnant. Among women having sex during their fertile times, 78 percent of 35-to-40-year-olds got pregnant within a year, compared with 84 percent of 20-to-34-year-olds. A study headed by Anne Steiner, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, the results of which were presented in June, found that among 38- and 39-year-olds who had been pregnant before, 80 percent of white women of normal weight got pregnant naturally within six months (although that percentage was lower among other races and among the overweight). “In our data, we’re not seeing huge drops until age 40,” she told me."

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/how-long-can-you-wait-to-have-a-baby/309374/

In other words, fertility in most of your 30s is not all that much different from fertility in your 20s.

The reason 30 year old women are considered "old" is that their value is still intrinsically tied to reproduction in our sexist world. Eventually this comes around to men too -- it just takes a decade longer, when people start looking askance at never-married 40-year old men.

with sex at least twice a week, 82 percent of 35-to-39-year-old women conceive within a year, compared with 86 percent of 27-to-34-year-olds.

You must stop all those "decreased fertility' comments. Above is a quote from page 3 or 4 - but who cares about the facts, right?

Sorry, PP. Among older women, the miscarriage rate is the determining factor in fertility, not the conception rate, and the miscarriage rate starts to increase between 25 and 30 years of age, and hits an astoundingly high rate of over 80% by age 45:

https://expectingscience.com/2015/08/26/lies-damned-lies-and-miscarriage-statistics/#womansage

Nobody ever said there isn't a decline with fertility with age. But it's factually incorrect to act like it's a crisis if you don't get pregnant in your 20s. The VAST majority of women in their mid 30s will conceive and give birth to healthy babies. Mid-30s is not "old" reproductively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
:

"Surprisingly few well-designed studies of female age and natural fertility include women born in the 20th century—but those that do tend to paint a more optimistic picture. One study, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2004 and headed by David Dunson (now of Duke University), examined the chances of pregnancy among 770 European women. It found that with sex at least twice a week, 82 percent of 35-to-39-year-old women conceive within a year, compared with 86 percent of 27-to-34-year-olds. (The fertility of women in their late 20s and early 30s was almost identical—news in and of itself.) Another study, released this March in Fertility and Sterility and led by Kenneth Rothman of Boston University, followed 2,820 Danish women as they tried to get pregnant. Among women having sex during their fertile times, 78 percent of 35-to-40-year-olds got pregnant within a year, compared with 84 percent of 20-to-34-year-olds. A study headed by Anne Steiner, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, the results of which were presented in June, found that among 38- and 39-year-olds who had been pregnant before, 80 percent of white women of normal weight got pregnant naturally within six months (although that percentage was lower among other races and among the overweight). “In our data, we’re not seeing huge drops until age 40,” she told me."

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/how-long-can-you-wait-to-have-a-baby/309374/

In other words, fertility in most of your 30s is not all that much different from fertility in your 20s.

The reason 30 year old women are considered "old" is that their value is still intrinsically tied to reproduction in our sexist world. Eventually this comes around to men too -- it just takes a decade longer, when people start looking askance at never-married 40-year old men.

with sex at least twice a week, 82 percent of 35-to-39-year-old women conceive within a year, compared with 86 percent of 27-to-34-year-olds.

You must stop all those "decreased fertility' comments. Above is a quote from page 3 or 4 - but who cares about the facts, right?

Sorry, PP. Among older women, the miscarriage rate is the determining factor in fertility, not the conception rate, and the miscarriage rate starts to increase between 25 and 30 years of age, and hits an astoundingly high rate of over 80% by age 45:

https://expectingscience.com/2015/08/26/lies-damned-lies-and-miscarriage-statistics/#womansage

Nobody ever said there isn't a decline with fertility with age. But it's factually incorrect to act like it's a crisis if you don't get pregnant in your 20s. The VAST majority of women in their mid 30s will conceive and give birth to healthy babies. Mid-30s is not "old" reproductively.

Wrong. The poster I was responding to said exactly that:

You must stop all those "decreased fertility' comments.