New York Post
Is Sarah Jessica Parker the New Face of
40?
Not Exactly
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March 29, 2005 -- Is Sarah Jessica Parker the new
face of 40?
Not exactly.
Statistically speaking, Parker - who hit the big
four-oh last week and celebrated with a star-studded
bash at The Plaza - couldn't be further from the
average American 40-year-old woman.
Ditto for her stick-thin peers like Teri Hatcher,
Sandra Bullock and Courteney Cox.
We sifted through reams of data on health, income,
lifestyles and values to find out what it really
means to be 40 now, and two words emerge at the
top of the list:
Hot and heavy.
Unlike the size-0 Parker, the average 40-year-old
woman is 25 1/2 pounds heavier than her mom was
in 1960. She's 164 pounds, wears a size 14 dress
and a size 9 shoe.
Her libido is bigger, too.
Those polled by a magazine recently said their
sex drive is as strong as it was five years ago.
More than half said they're having as much sex -
if not more - than they were having 10 years ago.
"It's not like you have 20 or 30 years to
live anymore," says Ila Stanger, managing editor
of More magazine, which conducted the survey. "It
could be 40 or 45. So she wants to be as adventurous
as she can."
Good news, Carrie Bradshaw - for many women, the
fun starts in the bedroom.
"Turning 40 is really the time women start
to explore," says Patty Brisben, who founded
the adult-themed entertainment company Pure Romance
as she turned 40.
"They're rediscovering their own bodies. It's
less about finding a man and more about finding
herself."
And while she's out there finding herself, the
40-something woman wants to look and feel as good
as she can because she's going to be around for
a good long while: As of 2010, the projected life
expectancy for women will be 81 - which makes 40
the new halfway point.
One thing Parker shares with the average gal: the
desire to look fabulous.
A recent study by the marketing group Frank About
Women found that 43 percent of women in their 40s
believe that aging well means looking 10 years younger.
As a result, says More's fashion and beauty editor
Lois Joy Johnson, they're dressing better than ever.
"We're breaking all the fashion rules set
by our predecessors," says Johnson.
"A woman in her 40s might wear the same capri
pants as her teenage daughter, but she'll pair them
with a great jacket or sweater set instead of a
belly-baring top that would look ridiculous on a
woman her age."
If there's something she's not happy about, she's
willing to go under the knife earlier, too. Along
with liposuction, reports Park Avenue plastic surgeon
Dr. Darrick Antell, breast lifts, tummy tucks
and "short scar facelifts" are also gaining
popularity among 40-something women.
"There's been a downward migration for the
age that people have their first surgery,"
he says. "Where people used to come in at 50
for something, now they're coming in at 40."
In terms of natural improvements, her workout priorities
have taken a buff turn.
Parker, a former dancer who did yoga to lose weight
after the 2002 birth of her son James, is right
in line with her peers when it comes to fitness
trends.
Reebok Master Trainer Josie Gardner has noticed
a newfound 40-something interest in strength training.
"Before, it was mostly a lot of aerobics,"
she says. "Now there's more core training.
Pilates and yoga are really popular."
So are rock climbing, white-water rafting and even
"extreme fishing," reports Courtney Caldwell,
editor in chief of Road & Travel magazine, which
notes a surge in 40-something, all-female adventure
tours that concentrate on all those activities and
more.
Even so, this is one group that doesn't take good
health for granted. According to Frank About Women's
data, the biggest worry is illness. After that comes
finances, memory loss and a fear of losing independence.
At least today's 40-year-old women are flexible.
"The biggest misconception about women this
age is that they're set in their ways," says
Frank About Women's Siobhan Olson. "They're
realizing their lives aren't stopping, they're accelerating."
They're also moving on. There's a good chance that
many 40-year-old women have changed partners since
their 20s or 30s. According to the American Association
of Retired Persons (AARP), 60 percent of singles
ages 40-49 are women, a majority of them divorced.
Chances are good the lucky recipient of her newfound
libido isn't an older man - it's a younger one.
The AARP data shows close to a third of unmarried
American women in their 40s through 60s are going
out with younger men.
If those women are anything like Parker, it's no
wonder why.
- By BETH SOBOL
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