Helen Mirren nude in a bathtub. An unretouched (relatively, anyway) woman. British actresses generally choose earned character over purchased faux youth. What is your honest reaction to this honest photo?
I love it, but then, I’m about her age and have a similar combination of a pretty good body and a pretty old face. I’m curious (really curious — I can take it!) whether people of various ages and genders respond to this combination with revulsion and ridicule (“She should have the decency to cover it up!”), with dutiful admiration (“Well, yuck, but good for her”), or with real joy. So tell the truth.
Cloven Not Crested 
Here’s what I thought: I’d LOVE to look like her at that age. She looks great! I did not, however, think the pictures were “hot”, as some described them on Twitter. Sensuous might be a better word?
I think she looks wayyyy hotter with clothes on. But then, my dad always used to say that women should leave a little to the imagination. 🙂
Dame Helen has never been one to say “Oooh, don’t you dare look at me!” No reason for her to start doing so now.
I’m pushing 60, so I’m not about to complain about a woman in her sixties with her clothes off, especially since I spend most of my free time similarly ungarbed.
GILF (grannies I would like to….) 🙂
My gaze wants to avert itself. Not enjoying the way it makes me feel. Intrigued with the floating nipples.
I trust you when you say you love it but have a sense that most people who would assert pleasure were really more about giving what they consider a politically correct response.
Hmmm. Am I suppressing a flinch of cognitive dissonance, or of embarrassment for her? Could be. I’m in a bind, though. To be disgusted with her would be to be disgusted with myself. And I’m aware that while that reflex response might have a biological basis (in males, and in females trying to protect our dignity against the withering male response), it’s also very culturally conditioned, as witness the fact that it is not invariant from culture to culture.
Speaking of culture to culture, it could be worse if we are to believe what we read about certain old women’s being expected to wander off and just die once they’ve outlived their usefulness to the tribe.
Would I pose for a good photographer’s nude portraits of older women? I’d be tempted.
I’m turned on.
I think it’s somewhat sad when someone “shows off” what they think is a good body for their age (and perhaps it is, considering…)
Why compete in that category? The sags, the wrinkles, the stained teeth and grey wiry hair … it’s not so pretty on the outside. Even if you grade on the age curve.
There. Said it honestly. You simply can’t compete with youth for true natural beauty. So why try and show off? Helen M. is a wonderful actress, and very believable with her clothes on. Unless a bathtub scene is somehow very relevant to her character, she should keep the skin pictures private. (even arm and overly exposed neck and cleavage skin. Not pretty.)
And other women of age who don’t have her acting skills? Strive for hobbies that don’t rely on proving yourself a physical competitor. It’s sad to laugh at the elderly, particularly those who delude themself seeing something, sadly, that is no longer there in acutality. Stick to the memories, and age gracefully … being naked with those who love you, in private.
Hth.
certain old women’s being expected to wander off and just die once they’ve outlived their usefulness to the tribe.
I think that’s somewhat distorted. Aged Eskimos of both sexes were, IIRC, expected to voluntarily go off into the cold when they could no longer travel on their own feet or when there was not enough food for all.
In some Australian Aborigine tribes, older women were expected to take a young husband and teach him the ropes. Then when she died (or when her job was done, I’m not sure of this detail), the man, now mature, got to take a younger wife.
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s book Mothers and Others notes that among the higher primates, only human mothers share the care of their infants. Further, she proposes that the long post-menopausal life of human females was an advantage for survival (more hands to dig and process tubers and care for the young) and that our very humanity may have evolved in tandem with grandmotherhood.
I’ve noticed that there is a demographic that is strongly attracted to older women (and men): little kids. They approach us in the swimming pool — strangers! — make eye contact, and make friends. They initiate the contact. (It occurs to me with a shiver how vulnerable this makes little kids to predators.) Is this because of good experiences they’ve had with their own grandparents? Or is it some deeper instinct?
Speaking of older (or, as we used to call them in my day, “old”) women, did you know “Elderly armpits can lift your spirits”?
http://bit.ly/awm1Kl
Eek! But that would go with the attraction of little kids, wouldn’t it? They would see (or smell) older people as safe and welcoming. And with the occasional unfortunate exception, they’d be right.