How do you feel when somebody casts their eye over your appearance and says, "you look good for your age"? Some might feel overjoyed at their youthful appearance, basking in the delight of the compliment for the rest of the day.
Others might feel insulted and regard the apparently harmless accolade as ageist and dated. It's certainly becoming a hot topic of conversation, with celebrities such as Helen Mirren saying they feel aggrieved by people telling them they look good for their advanced years.
Similarly, Andie MacDowell has made the decision to keep her hair a shade of natural silvery grey, because she wants to try looking her age and see how it feels, because ageing is an unpreventable part of life.
A lot of the glowing, happy feeling inside that comes with being told you are maintaining a younger look, likely comes from inherent misogyny - men have always been "allowed" to age, while women have been fed constant messages about their worth being tied to looking young, and maintaining a slim figure.
A conversation about the phrase "you look good for your age" was started on The Woman's Hour Guide To Life podcast (available on BBC Sounds.) Host Nuala McGovern spoke with Gerontologist and author Dr Kerry Burnight, about positive ageing.
Dr Burnight says, "when people say, 'you look good for your age,' I think you can stop it there and just say, 'I just look good.'"
"The little ageist zingers that we get all day long, half of them are from ourselves, half of them are from other people," she adds.
Dr Burnight shares some advice, suggesting, "I think it's possible to proactively decide each day: 'I am going to make a difference so that the people who come behind me won't have as much of a struggle as we have had.'"
She believes we can work together to change the narrative that as women, we should strive to look good for the age are. Not only is this subjective, but it's damaging, when self-confidence can become seriously dented by a process that is completely natural and inevitable.
Followers were called upon to share their thoughts when the clip of Dr Burnight's insights were shared to Instagram.
One person wrote, "it bothers me when people say that. I ask, 'what does a 48-year-old supposedly look like?' They normally just look blank."
Another agreed, writing, "wonderful, it's always a struggle not to fall into the trap and perpetuate the ageism around us."
However, not everybody agreed and wanted to share their opposing views. One person wrote, "I like it when people tell me this. It makes me feel good," while another simply added, "take the compliment."
