78-Year-Old's Answer To Young Person Wondering If Attraction Changes With Age Shows Beauty Of Growing Older
With age comes wisdom and an appreciation for unspoken beauty.
Nashua Volquez Young & Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels The internet often shows itself to be a space that brings out the worst in people, due to the sense of anonymity and invisibility found in typing words into a seemingly open void. But every once in a while, people share their opinions and experiences in a way that captures kindness and grace.
A 78-year-old gave a heartening answer to a young person wondering if attraction changes with age.
A tweet that was reposted to the subreddit r/MadeMeSmile captured an element of humanity that isn’t highly broadcasted. On August 6, 2023, the Twitter account “Internet Hall of Fame” posted the following question: “When you get older, do old people become attractive to you, like when I’m 70 are 70-year-old men gonna look hot? This is a real concern of mine.”
A wise and generous answer came from someone claiming to be 78 years old, highlighting how our attraction shifts as we age.
“I’m 78 years old, as I’ve gained my decades, at 30, teenagers looked like kids but 20-30 looked good,” their tweet began. “40 looked old, when I was [in my] 40s, the 50-year-olds started to look pretty darn good, and so on, but when I was in my 40s, I realized if I didn’t see some wrinkles they didn’t look finished.”
“Now, at 78, I see beauty that is hard to get into words, like a work of great art, it takes my breath away, life is written on a body, hard labor, sorrow, even joy, happiness, fear, it’s all right there in front of me,” they continued.
“And I swear to God, the beauty, the price we pay for our physical appearance, it’s like when you look at a newborn, you admire the perfection. In old age, you admire the work it took to get there, and it’s beautiful. Hope that helps,” they exclaimed. Many comments beneath the tweet made the claim that the person who answered wasn’t actually 78 years old. The response came from a user called BigCrafter, who appears to be a streamer and not someone in their golden years.
Yet the overwhelming reaction from people on Twitter and Reddit showed the deep emotional resonance of the answer.
A man named Will Selden shared a tweet explaining just how much he agreed with the sentiment. He wrote, “Yes. At 65, sometimes the young look a little ‘incomplete’ to me and a careworn mark here or there is more badge than disqualifier.”
Another person, named Cora Lili proclaimed appreciation and gratitude for the answer, tweeting, “Thank you for your wisdom. There’s an unspoken beauty that comes through after I’ve sat with an older person. And it’s quite charming to fall in love with the truth of an individual who’s lived through times and seen things that I’ve seen or have yet to.”
She continued, “Thank you so much for posting this. You have truly given comfort and reassurance to we ‘younger’ ones.”
As someone named Sam tweeted, “I’m in my twenties and I completely agree. There’s an unmatchable beauty in wrinkles and signs of age. Wish more women my age and teens understood this so we could live with grace and joy, not overly obsessed with looks and weight. Maturity is priceless.”
While the age of the person who provided such a deeply-felt answer isn’t entirely clear, the fact remains that their response garnered millions of views. It seems as though the truth of the sentiment they expressed holds inherent weight, even if their identity isn’t what they claim. The process of aging is anything but simple, still, to do so is a gift.
Attraction is about so much more than our skin, our bodies, our features. Our physical frames carry the stories we’ve lived. For those of us given the opportunity to accrue year after year of existence, it’s clear that our beauty blossoms as we go.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers mental health, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.