At 81, Martha Stewart has broken the sandy ceiling.
Her inclusion as one of this year’s Sports Illustrated cover swimsuit models catapults her into history. The oldest woman to star in the somewhat infamous magazine series, Stewart is, at the very least, a much-needed reminder that a woman’s life — or her looks, or her sexuality — doesn’t end at age 60.
“I don’t think about age very much,” Stewart says in the official Sports Illustrated video. I for one applaud that mentality.
The lifestyle, cooking, baking and entertaining business icon, who was photographed resplendent on a beach in the Dominican Republic, is officially one of the most interesting celebrities in Hollywood. She has succeeded, failed and rebounded, pivoting and reinventing herself, all the while defying societal expectations about aging.
Her motto, “When you’re through changing, you’re through” reverberates with many of us in this age bracket who identify as women and routinely and historically get passed over and passed by at work and at play.
We too often are neither seen nor heard in the workplace and relegated to the background in social arenas. Recent research shows that ageism in the workplace is distinctly gendered, with “older female workers being victimized at a greater rate than their male counterparts.” This prevalence of bias results in “increased stress, threatens the well-being of workers of all ages, and creates a toxic workplace climate.”
In 2021, there were close to 38 million women aged 60 to 84.
But America is an aging society. The fastest growing age group in the U.S. is those 65 and older, a demographic of 56 million people. In 2021, there were close to 38 million women aged 60 to 84.
As a 64-year-old myself, I see Stewart’s bold dive into bare-legged, bare-armed and bare-necked celebrity not just as exploitation, but as a nod to what is still possible in a culture that is decidedly age-denying and age-erasing.
Even better, her…
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