Aishwarya Rai and the changing conversation around ageing
There is a strange rule attached to women in the public eye: they can grow older, but they are not really allowed to look older. The moment an actress crosses 40, her face, body and every visible change seem to become public property.
Aishwarya Rai is the latest example. At 52, she walked the Paris Fashion Week runway alongside global stars, but sections of social media quickly shifted the conversation from the fashion moment to her body and appearance. The achievement became secondary to the question of whether she still looked the way people remember her from years ago.
Katrina Kaif has faced a similar conversation from a different direction. After motherhood, her appearance and weight became subjects of online scrutiny. Instead of allowing a woman’s body to naturally change after pregnancy, social media once again seemed to expect the old version of the actress.
Shilpa Shetty has spent years being associated with fitness, yet even she has faced comments about her body and ageing. Malaika Arora has repeatedly spoken about the obsession with women’s age and appearance, while Amrita Arora was openly mocked online simply for getting older.
That is where the problem becomes bigger than celebrity trolling. Why is a woman expected to preserve the appearance of 25 forever?
Men in cinema can grow older, change their physique, develop grey hair and still be discussed primarily for their work. Women, meanwhile, are often judged against photographs from their younger years.
Aishwarya is 52. Katrina is 40. Shilpa is 50. Malaika is 52. Their ages are facts, not flaws.
Maybe the audience needs to change one expectation: women don’t have to look 25 forever to remain beautiful, relevant or successful. They are allowed to simply look their age.
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