MR. FRY: POSTER BOY FOR MIDDLE AGE
Middle age… When does it happen? Is it a number or a state of mind?
A British survey of people over 50 has found that as the population ages, the perception of what’s “middle-aged” is also creeping ever upwards.
Previous studies have pinpointed the start of middle age as early as 36. However seven out of ten early 50-somethings quizzed for the survey thought middle age began at around 55.
On reading the news on the BBC website last night, Stephen Fry Tweeted to his 4,804,063 followerS: “It’s official. Three weeks ago I became middle-aged.”
Stephen Fry. Pin up boy for the middle-aged.
And isn’t Stephen Fry the best advertisement for middle age you could imagine? Quick-witted, wise, droll, fiercely intellectual and drop-dead wonderful.
No wonder so many people hang on his every word.
However, Mr Fry may still be a youngster, because at least one in five in the survey thought that midde age began at 60 (!) and one was not elderly until hitting around 70.
Surely the Brits are delusional. They seem to be ignoring the aches and pains of the ageing body because a goodly number of those surveyed said that age was just “a state of mind”.
(Interestingly, most Europeans are not so optimistic. On average they believe middle age begins at 40 – although the Swedes think one is middle-aged at 34 and the Greeks say it’s 52).
Many will recall their parents believed themselves ancient at 50.
But now look us!
In our 40s we’re spring chickens; the 50-somethings are in their prime; the fabulous 60s are going strong and planning to live for at least another two decades.
Australians are among the most long-lived people in the world. By 2051 demographers expect we will be home to some 38,000 centenarians.
So today we ask: What defines “middle age”?
If youth has been traditionally about potential and old age about limitation…what lies in between?
Is youth something to hold on to? Is old age to be resisted?
And what are the joys that come with embracing the glorious “middle age”?
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15 Responses to this article
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The Huntress September 19, 2012
Wherever middle age is, I don’t care, but I LOVE Stephen Fry.
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the*sparrow September 19, 2012
Stephen Fry is one of those rare characters who almost everyone likes. In my family for example: my kids because he is the narrator of their favourite PlayStation game “Little Big Planet”, my husband because he adores QI, me because I was a big Blackadder fan – and all of us because of his fabulous reading of the audio books of the Harry Potter books, which we enjoy over and over again on long car journeys.
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MichelleP September 19, 2012
Middle age is when you buy a red convertible
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The Huntress September 19, 2012
So I’m not middle aged as my convertible is silver…phew!
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Wendy Green September 19, 2012
We probably need to consider more deeply what middle-age actually means, and then I think it will more than likely be different for everyone.
For example, if middle-age defines an idyllic period in one’s life when they are over the impetuous naivety of youth, are enjoying a robust health in mind and body, and have not yet started experiencing the declining insecurities of older age, then that person would be in their middle-age.For me, that time was around 40. I am now 56 and do, very much, feel like an older person – not elderly, yet – but definitely older. I can no longer run, sit on the floor (without needing assistance to rise again only to find my feet no longer consider it necessary to hold me up!), walk for miles without the need to sit down every half hour or so, open jars of any description because of the arthritis in my hands, or climb more than one flight of stairs at a time!
Also, I hope that I won’t live beyond about 65 as I don’t think I could stand any more of the above beyond that.
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AJ September 19, 2012
From a strictly literal perspective, middle age would be half of the current life expectancy. I therefore consider myself middle aged and am seriously hoping old age gets better!
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Wendy Harmer September 19, 2012
Yes, someone just tweeted me ( @wendy_harmer) that middle age is always ten years older than you currently are.
Erm, wishful thinking, I reckon.
I have felt middle aged all my life and I might just stay that way. There in the middle juggling potential and limitation… that’s a discipline for a whole lifetime.
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Rivka September 19, 2012
Middle-aged is a state of mind. A friend of mine is a flighty girl of 70. And it suits her.
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Valerie Parv September 19, 2012
Is there such a thing as middle age any more? Or do we all enjoy a kind of extended adolescence, a twilight zone where we’re neither foolishly young nor seriously mature? Only when the body truly begins to fail are we likely to think of ourselves as elderly. And do labels matter as long as we’re learning, growing and experimenting? As the saying goes, growing old is unavoidable but growing up is optional.
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Valerie Parv September 19, 2012
Stephen Fry strikes me as one who has no interest in growing up. His disregard of what anyone thinks of him, openness about what he thinks and feels, and willingness to explore and grow make him the “poster boy” for a life superbly lived, in my book. He also has an astonishing intellect. I want to be him when/if either of us gets round to growing up.
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Daphne Alaksa September 19, 2012
When a person is middle aged is, I think, when they belive they are middle aged. As long as you feel young you are young, and the time that you are old is when you actually feel old. As far as I am concerned there is no particular age for these things. Some days I feel like a kid, other days I feel positively ancient. On the days that I’m just a kid at heart, I rush around doing all the physical things that need doing — even ironing which I really hate. When I’m an ancient then I do whatever is strictly necessary and the rest of the time I enjoy myself. Sometimes on one of those days I even go and have a rest in the afternoon. Anyway, it’s fair to say that most of the time I’m of the opinion that it’s a marvellous life.
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Glenis September 19, 2012
Age is what you feel and is certainly a state of mind. I feel like I am still in my 30′s but quietly I am not! Stephen Fry a pin up by for middle age or whatever ….NO! But I do love his show.
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mary September 20, 2012
I’m also 56 and I’d agree that I’ve been thinking of myself as middle aged since about 50, but I expect to keep labelling myself as such till I turn 70. I agree that age is not all in the mind, as various aches and pains inevitably start to hit at around 45 – however, doing yoga means I can easily sit on the floor and stand up again, live in a 3 storey house and can easily go up and down the stairs, ride a bike to work… Keeping physically and mentally active and maintaining a healthy weight are vital to quality of life. I also had a child in my 40s and that definitley keeps me young.
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Kate October 2, 2012
My husband must be middle-aged at 52 as he just purchased a motor bike!
