I think for a woman, the hardest thing about growing old is becoming invisible. There's something very front and center about being young.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Getting older is a struggle. I always feel that just under the surface of acceptance and enjoyment of the ageing process is a terrible hysteria just waiting to burst out.
I wonder if it is harder for a woman who was beautiful to get older or a woman who was never looked at.
I suspect the older you get the more invisible you become.
I'm really a strong advocate of ageing because the messages that the media and advertising give to women infuriate me: ie that it's a bad thing to get old.
Some women say as they get older they're no longer noticed: they disappear. Men, for instance, don't see them. Nobody wants them. That doesn't happen to me because of who I am. Not because I'm any more scintillating company, but because I'm Ruth Rendell.
I love getting older! I really believe that a woman doesn't reach her peak until her 40s.
I think there are two aspects to ageing: there's the physical side and what's happening inside.
I don't have a problem with ageing - in fact, I embrace that aspect of it. And am able to and obviously am going to be able to quite easily... it doesn't faze me at all.
To me, growing old is great. It's the very best thing - considering the alternative.
When I see a woman who looks her age, she's radiating something, and it's life.