Real Girls. Real Power.

At 55+, we’re not watching the moment. We are the moment.

Let’s start here: When I see women 55+ on TV, in movies, or splashed across social media, I see two extremes. We’re either stepping into our “empowered goddess” era… or still stuck playing the wise grandma, the bitter ex, or the hot-flash punchline.

What’s getting airtime? Jane Fonda, still a crush, rocking silver hair and reformer Pilates. Diane Keaton, whom I love, in yet another quirky linen blazer. A few badass CEOs and authors earning applause for “aging well.”

It’s progress, sure. But it’s also curated. A version of midlife that’s stylish, sanitized, and still rooted in how well we can pull off youth, power, or relevance.

And look, I’m not mad about it. I love that menopause is finally getting the attention, research, and real talk it’s always deserved. Naomi Watts launched a whole damn brand. Halle Berry’s out here talking hormones and heat like she’s giving a TED Talk in a sauna. Recently, The New York Times dropped a piece blowing up ten menopause myths experts can’t stand. My favorites? “It’s just hot flashes,” symptoms don’t last long, and the idea that menopause kills your sex drive. (It might be tucked behind a paywall, but the truth bombs are worth the click. I did find a nice summary on the ‘gram.)

We’ve gone from silence to science to rage parade, and honestly? I’m here for all of it.

But don’t get it twisted.

Some of these portrayals feel powerful. And yet, too many still feel polished, packaged, and perfectly palatable for a youth-obsessed culture. Still clinging to the “she’s still got it!” narrative, like our value depends on how un-aged we look while doing it all.

That’s not always our story. And it’s definitely not the whole story.

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And Just Like That… A Real Girl Watches AJLT

Yes, I’ve been watching And Just Like That. Of course I have. I knew Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte back then, but I really fell for them in the movies - through the Cosmo highs and broken-heart lows. But this new season? It’s wild, real, and sometimes raw. It’s showing transitions - friendships fraying, marriages unraveling, sex re-entering the frame, with awkward beauty and brutal honesty. Not every storyline lands for me, and you won’t catch me fangirling over the fashion this time. But the themes - late-night confessions, reinventing myself, navigating grief and desire in the same breath - those land, even if they sometimes feel a little too tame.

I catch glimpses of my own life in pieces of those stories, and maybe that’s enough. We don’t need a flawless reflection - just one that feels like us. And as the series wrapped, it leaned less on spectacle and more on reframing - reminding us that sometimes the best we can do is accept what’s shifting and carry it forward with a little more grace and a little less grip.

But even in all their rawness, there’s a sheen to them, like we’re being spared the truly unfiltered moments - the grit between the plot points, the parts you don’t edit out before you let the world in.

And that’s what’s missing: the jagged middle.

The women who are building businesses from their kitchen tables while managing adult kids, aging parents, bladder leaks, and late-night existential dread. Women who aren’t airbrushed, filtered, or photoshopped, but who are powerful as hell because we’ve lived.

And while the celebrity glow-ups are great, the rest of us are still out here getting side-eye by female doctors when we mention that we haven’t had a sex drive since 2021, we dribble when we sneeze, and sometimes we cry and scream during the same thirty seconds.

So yeah, people are talking about it but…it’s like we’re still not allowed to be mad about it. Or messy. Or loud.

So I’m saying it loud and messy: If I wanted to live like this - sleepless, sexless, sweating through everything - I’d reenlist in early motherhood. But guess what? I already did that tour.

Which brings me to visibility. Is this midlife moment in pop culture a genuine shift? A feminist awakening? Or just smart marketing, since Gen X and boomer women control more than half the country’s wealth?

Probably all of the above.

And here’s one of my favorite markers of the shift: Forbes’ 2025 50 Over 50 list, which highlights women thriving across every sector - news, tech, activism, art, and entrepreneurship. These women are rewriting the definition of influence beyond midlife stigma and demanding real power, real presence, and real stories. It’s proof that aging is not the erasure it used to be, it’s the expansion. 

Real Girls Talk: we’re demanding it. We’re fiercer. We’re done with being invisible. We’re launching podcasts, writing books (ahem, mine’s coming for you by 2026), starting businesses, and rewriting the rules of what aging looks like, from the inside out.

And the brands? Playing catch-up. And sometimes, sure, it’s a gimmick - hi there, ‘menopause-safe makeup,’ from the same companies that pretended we were in witness protection for decades.

What’s still stuck in the old playbook?

• The idea that we should age gracefully, which means silently, politely, and without disruption.

• That beauty, relevance, or desire expires after a certain age.

• The unspoken rule that if we are powerful, we must also be likable, non-threatening, and quietly grateful for any attention.

But here’s the crack in that playbook: Women 55+ are showing up with grit, rage, brilliance, and unapologetic power. We’re not fading, we’re flaming.

If I could rewrite pop culture’s narrative, I’d call those stories:

• The woman who started over at 57.

• The woman who walked out of a 30-year marriage and into her own damn self.

• The one who’s still raising kids and her voice.

• The one reinventing her career, her body, and her identity without asking permission.

To every woman reading this, whether you feel seen or erased:

• You don’t need a Netflix special to take center stage.

• You don’t need a makeover to reclaim dignity.

• You don’t need to look or act or age a certain way to matter.

Start with your story. Tell it. Own it. Share it.

That’s why I’m writing these blogs, and this book. Not for the highlight reel, but for us Real Girls.

And if you’ve got a story, drop it in the comments. DM me. Or whisper it into the mirror until it becomes your truth.

Because here’s the deal nobody puts a bow on: This chapter? The one you’re in right now? It’s the plot twist, not the postscript.

You’re not fading. You’re unfolding. And the best parts haven’t even aired yet!!

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We’ve earned every wrinkle. Might as well make more laugh lines together.
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