Gwyneth Paltrow celebrated her 50th birthday this week by posing nude and looking fabulous, in Vogue. Covered in gold paint  is 50 her golden age or is she at 50 so ancient she is a relic of the Golden Age who knows?  Paltrow tells the magazine she has  earned her wrinkles. 






I do not relate to a 26 year old model she told the magazine. I do not want her life. I do not want her face. I do not want her experience. I have earned my life. I have earned my wrinkles. I have been through so many highs and lows and theres a sweetness that starts to emerge from that from having lived, from being wise from being humble  from loving and losing and all of this stuff.


Paltrow is the spokesperson for anti wrinkle injectable brand Xeomin. She has built an empire as the face of her  wellness and lifestyle brand Goop where her success is based on how she looks. And, while seemingly doing everything she can to defying ageing and look perfect she writes in a separate column about turning 50 Defying logic alright. But then perhaps Paltrow is as confused as the rest of us because as women  untangling what we do for us and what we think we must do  or what we think we must look like to be worthy is messy.


Normal bodily changes associated with ageing and mid life seemingly push women away from societal beauty standards sometimes resulting in women feeling  invisible  says Dr Gemma Sharp a psychologist and the leader of the Body Image Research Group at Monash Universitys Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre. So some would say the only way to stay  visible and  relevant in society is to engage with the myriad of age  defying products and procedures. You are allowed to say that you are 50 years old but as long as you do not look it.