the barbie generation

Gloria is 42 and was a proud member of the Barbie Generation until she came down to earth with a thud last year in relation to gravity and the ageing process.

“I believe that a significant source of antipathy shown towards older women at work has to do with the almost indecent desire that some of them have to want to look and act a lot younger than they are.”

"It's difficult to fathom what came first," she muses. "Are we hardwired with a desire to retain youth, or did a burgeoning youth culture promote that desire?"

"Whatever," says Gloria. "due to a lot of personal life changes from the age of 40 onwards, the natural aging process is accelerated and it’s almost as if the lifeblood has been sucked out of some older women."

"It’s good and proper to get fit, improve nutrition and smarten up your act - and yes, I admit I’m still a bit vain - but it's a different thing to try to turn back the clock and be the person you once were."

"Barbie may still look like she’s 20 even though she's as old as I am," says Gloria, "but she can get away with it because she's a bit of plastic."

"My generation needs to get vain about being the age we look," says Gloria, "and if Mattel isn't going to bring out an old Barbie to reflect reality then maybe some smart entrepreneur will. It will sell like hotcakes!"

Read more by Gloria on this issue:

don’t deny menopause
Act your age