Brooke Shields Says Women Are Dismissed After 40: From 'Sexy Girl at the Bar' to 'Only Wrinkles or Menopause'

The actress is speaking out about how women are “slowly being counted out” as they age

Brooke Shields is sounding off on how women are treated as they age and says that “you’re slowly being counted out” once you hit 40.

“It starts at 40 and just don't realize it's happening,” Shields, 58, said, while speaking at the PHM HealthFront event in New York. The former model said that as she aged, she started to notice the way beauty products were targeted to women.

“I started looking at marketing and it was either you're the sexy girl at the bar," Shields said, "or it was all anti-aging, only wrinkles or only menopause.”

It’s part of the reason she decided to launch an online community called Beginning Is Now, that she says will “allow women to voice how they felt and what they wanted for their lives.”

Related: Jane Seymour Talks About Being ‘Unseen’ as She Ages, Says Men ‘Look Over My Head and Find the Nearest Man’ To Talk To

Shields — who reflected on how she was sexualized as a child and teen in last year’s Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields — continued to look back on her role as a beauty icon, saying, “I was part of the problem.”

“I was perpetuating whatever I was selling for people. And to get to this age, and actually feel sexy and feel great, and then have marketers not market to us — it was angering to me,” the Mother of the Bride star said. “It all just is about, to me, changing the narrative and not using all these negative words.”

Shields was careful to point out that she maintains a deliberate “lack of judgment in anything that I say” about women's appearances or aging.

She highlighted that women are often ripped apart for their appearance — but if they undergo any procedures to soften the effects of aging, they’re criticized.

“We're supposed to look younger, but if we do anything to help us look younger, then we are criticized for that. So there's this mixed message,” Shields said, adding that she maintains an open dialogue about her beauty and wellness journey.

Related: Valerie Bertinelli Says Aging Is 'Mind Blowing' and It's 'Challenging' to Adjust: 'Parts of My Body Are Sagging'

"I think because I'm willing to show the parts that are just not that pretty and the struggles, and I'm not ashamed, and I'm not hiding it,” said Shields, who’s shared that she once tried dying her iconic eyebrows, which she’s called a “huge mistake.”

"My hair is not the same texture as it was,” she shared. “All of these things you just want to know. And it's not misery loves company. The joy that we can feel in this era of our lives is what we need to really approach, I think, that positive way of speaking about it and the willingness to be better and to not judge or come from a place of judgment.”

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