Supermodel Paulina Porizkova on aging: 'The older woman is still invisible'

Paulina Porizkova talks aging and why she feels invisible as a woman in her 50s

Video Transcript

PAULINA PORIZKOVA: I mean, aging well from the point of view of society seems to be not to age. I don't like not being counted as a woman. I don't like being dismissed to the senior table when I feel like I'm in my prime.

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I sort of had the misfortune of being-- of getting separated, divorced, and then widowed in my-- in my 50s. And that's sort of coincides with the same time that we women really do lose our visibility. If you don't have the visibility at home and then you don't have it outside either, you really start feeling like you don't exist. My invisibility doesn't have anything to do with modeling. I'm invisible as a woman.

Some women actually even like the invisibility. That's not where I am. I am trying to date. I'm trying to find somebody to, uh, be with. So this doesn't really apply to me, and it doesn't apply to a lot of women. Evolved men do not have a problem with women in their 50s or 60s. But there are not that many evolved men it seems sadly.

Men do seem to be attracted to the fertility of women, kind of like a biological thing. You are sexually not that interesting. Maybe also you start reminding them of their mothers, which could be sort of unsexy. Women though, [? boy, ?] I mean, for a sisterhood, that really should stick together. It's unbelievable how we go after each other. I think that's the part to me that's sometimes hurtful is to see women and especially women my age telling me that I am indecent or I should cover up.

And I think I'm fighting for you, like don't knock me down. Women muting other women is not cool. I do get a fair bit of blowback on talking about accepting yourself if you are as ex supermodel, privileged white woman. But imagine this, with all those privileges that I have, it still sucks for me to age. So how sucky is it for somebody who doesn't?

I posted a nude photo of myself on Instagram because when this whole Elizabeth Hurley thing went down, she's got the best breasts I've ever seen. And they are criticizing her for being sexy, for taking a picture of herself like that. That's disgusting. The critique is disgusting.

This woman looks amazing, and she should be naked all the time as far as I'm concerned. Writing is not necessarily what draws people into Instagram. I've learned from experience that if you are a little provocative, they will read you. And so I thought your picture would be inordinate, since I'm talking about how it's not OK to be sexy once you reach a certain age. And goddammit! I'm gonna try to make it look sexy. So there, suck it!

Do you seek attention if you're on social media? Yeah. When people say, oh, you're just looking for attention. That doesn't in the least bit disturb me. It's like, you know what, that's an easy fix if you think, um, you know, I'm looking for too much attention, unfollow me. Bye. I know that I take joy from the way I look now. That's never happened to me before. And when I was younger, somebody would have to tell me I was hot in order to feel hot. I don't like being invisible. I don't like being dismissed because I'm a certain age.

The only way that we are going to cure being invisible is to not take it. We don't all have to look young in order to be attractive. Shed the spotlight on us because we're a fabulous mature women not because we're fabulous mature young looking women.

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