Demi Moore: my grandmother at 60 seemed already resigned to being old

May 2024 · 3 minute read

Let me start by thanking you Bitches. On our last Demi Moore post, we talked about her swimsuit line, and you all gave some great recommendations for swimsuit lines you trust. I ended up buying three suits from Aerie as a result, two for me and one for my daughter. These are the first one-pieces I’ve felt good about myself in for about a decade so thank you!

Since Demi’s swimsuit collaboration with Andie is all about not making a woman feel matronly, Demi was asked recently about her feelings on turning 60. She said she found it “liberating.” Demi said she doesn’t feel defined by a number and refused to be like her grandmother who was already, “resigned to being old” by the time she hit the big 6-0. Demi, by contrast, feels, “more alive and present than ever.”

Demi Moore has made her mark. She’s shaved her head, mastered a one-arm push-up, fought for pay equity in Hollywood and bared her soul in a bestselling memoir. Now, as she gears up to celebrate her 60th birthday in November, she’s taking on a new challenge: designing a collection for the inclusive swimwear brand Andie and modeling her own creations (bikinis included!) for the campaign.

For Moore, 59, the Demi Moore x Andie capsule is about, well, more than a great-fitting bikini — it’s about breaking outdated rules of what women should and shouldn’t wear after a certain age.

For the multi-hyphenate superstar, embracing her age has been “liberating.”

When asked what she looks forward to most about turning 60 later this year, she tells PEOPLE: “Not being defined by a number and instead being defined by my experience. You hit 59 and you’re already thinking, ‘Well, I’m going to be 60.’ It feels very liberating. When I think of my grandmother at 60, she in a way seemed to be already resigned to being old. But I feel, in so many ways, more alive and present than ever.”

[From People]

I think there’s been a real shift in how women view aging. Remember there were all sorts of rules for older women? Like, hair length and sleeve length and whether we could wear shorts. They weren’t official rules, of course, but any women caught not observing them was certainly pointed out. Don’t even get me started on the bathing suits us old broads could wear. My mom’s generation stuck loosely to the rules, but they didn’t act old or resign themselves like Demi described. So my generation feels even more at liberty to smash those standards a little more. With Demi, I feel like it’s probably easy to write it off as, ‘well sure, if you look like Demi Moore!’ But I really do think it’s the attitude, like she said. If you embrace life at any age, even with new physical limitations or perhaps some slowing down, you don’t have to capitulate to a number.

My grandmother also seemed to accept being old at 60. She was already in a 55+ community with my grandfather, wearing her short, permed, grey hair and cardigans with Kleenex in the pockets. My grandfather was 10 years older than her. When he died at 75, she kind of got her second wind – traveling and taking classes. So I think what also determines how we find ourselves at certain ages is what’s going on around us. I’ll be a new empty nester at 60, there’s no way I’m resigning myself to being old. We have a whole When the Kids are Gone List. Maybe Demi and I can go hang out in our two-piece swimsuits on the South of France and whistle at young’uns.

Photo credit: Instagram and Backgrid

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