It was to be expected. Barely back in the limelight (even if the gossip press never quite let them go), Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP), Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon are the subject of all the comments, and especially all the critics. We compared them to Golden Girls. SJP has been criticized for his wrinkles, and especially his gray regrowth, seen in particular one afternoon on a terrace with, oh irony, a man frankly graying (Andy Cohen).
PHOTO JAMES DEVANEY, THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon
Conversely, the complexion deemed too fresh by Kristin Davis has been the subject of all conjectures (analysis of plastic surgeons in addition). ” And just like that, Charlotte has a new face! “ (And suddenly Charlotte has a new face), headlined the Daily Mail of London, parodying the title of the sequel to the series Sex and the City (SATC). Too old here, too young there, still losers, what?
Not a surprise …
She is not surprised, but “sorry”. Marie Charrel, daily journalist the World and author of Who is afraid of old women?, published last month by Peregrine, expected it.
PHOTO HANNAH ASSOULINE, PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR
Marie Charrel
It is really the illustration of the double injunction to which women are subjected. On the one hand, you have to be natural, on the other, you have to stay young, beautiful and slim.
Marie Charrel, journalist and author of Who is afraid of old women?
A double injunction that she tries to deconstruct in her book, and which is also generally at its peak in the women’s press, she illustrates, where articles advocating well-being and the art of “staying young without cheating ”blithely rub shoulders with advertisements for anti-wrinkle products. Find the error…
“We always have a great reluctance to let the characters we love age,” adds Sandrine Galand, author of the essay. the pop feminism. Their aging speaks to us of ours! »Evidenced by the reaction surrounding, in the same way, the characters of the series Friends, during their reunion last spring. This time about male actors (Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry), it should be noted.
Still: these comments are always more “violent”, she says, when we talk about women. And it is unequivocal. Besides, she slips, had you noticed: other characters from SATC also took a few wrinkles (Big, someone?), “but them, nobody talks about it” …
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, PRESS ARCHIVES
Sandrine Galand, author of the essay the pop feminism
Speaking of “violence”, she does not hide it: the comments surrounding the alleged plastic surgery intervention of the character of Charlotte “killed” her, indicates this great fan of popular culture. They are indeed all the harder to swallow when we know that Kristin Davis is one of the rare actresses to have dared to comment on the difficulty of “physically existing” in her environment.
“What would it have been if a character had gained weight?” Could she have returned to the series? », She dares to ask.
“Aging without becoming old”
“I think we are still, and especially in popular culture, in a world where we would like to age without becoming old,” adds Line Grenier, specialist in popular culture and aging and professor in the communication department of the ‘Montreal university. It’s a “paradox”, she says, because we want both “women to stay young, we don’t appreciate them hiding their wrinkles, but we would like them to hide them”. A paradox almost exclusive to women, confirms the researcher, because indeed, socially and culturally, there is still a very strong “objectification” of the female body.
There are so many examples of older men who are still given the same look. […] We do not ask ourselves the question of wrinkles, of a surgical operation, or of its relevance. However, in many cultural sectors, for women, after 40 years, it is almost impossible.
Line Grenier, professor in the communication department of the University of Montreal
And why then? Not just because of ageism, she believes. But because all the practices of these environments encourage the youth as a bonus. “Innovation rhymes with youth,” she says. And getting older is associated with decline and conservatism. ”
So what to do? Should the Sarah Jessica Parkers of this world apologize for getting old? Take a bow? Obviously not. On the contrary. And the three researchers confirm it: the more there will be the presence of elderly women (whether they are 50, 60, 70, 80 years old or more!), A varied, diversified, natural presence or not (great good for them!) , the better off we’ll all be.
Objective: “That we no longer hear comments on their physique, but on the script!” », Concludes journalist and author Marie Charrel.
And Just Like That, on Crave and HBO Max from Thursday