Why Do Women Lie About Their Age?

18 till I die...
gonna be 18 till I die...
it sure feels good to be alive,
someday I'll be 18 going on 55...

Oh no, no, I'm not saying that Bryan Adams was thinking like most women do when he wrote this song. Certainly not! And why would he? After all, he is a guy, isn't he? Why would he care how old/young he is? Surely, he's got more 'man-worthy' things to be concerned with.

Age-faking is something that has allegedly been a quality associated with most women, has it not? And thanks (or no thanks) to Botox, it's getting increasingly tough for anyone to judge a woman's age. All the better for women, one might say. Which brings us back to the issue at hand - what's with all the lying?

If you are older than your waist size, it wouldn't be long before a younger model replaced you.
There. I just said it. Put forth words that fill up every woman with a certain kind of dread, that she and only she can associate with. Because for a woman, there is a constant ticking going on in the back of her mind, and it's not just the biological clock, mind you.

To some, it may be the academic clock, to some, the career clock, and to a few others, the 'settle-down-now' clock. For a woman, it is almost a certainty that she has to live her life, make her decisions to the tune of this proverbial ticking time bomb. In short, she has to pander to the biological state of affairs that put her in this position, and achieve everything she has to, before the hot flashes jokes begin.

We're living in a world where every wrinkle, every dark spot, and every inch of cellulite is 'embraced' on the surface, only to be airbrushed in the final outcome, despite common knowledge of it being retouched. Ironic, isn't it? And yet, women are asked to justify why they feel compelled to lie about their age.

Jokes apart, have you ever wondered how certain words like 'knowledgeable' and 'experienced' can never match the pull of 'fresh' and 'dewy'? Well, age has always been like the Queen of Hearts to women the world over, and mind you, being a woman, even the Queen of Hearts gets menacing as she ages. Just like sexists and racists exist, so do the ageists.

And no, the prejudice is not something that has stemmed from a woman's overactive imagination - these are harsh realities that she's faced at every nook and corner, aged 24 and upwards. Even younger, if she happens to be in show business.

Every field of work has its own demands. But when it comes to a woman, there is always someone younger, prettier, and eager wanting to get into her shoes, filling her position. With a man, on the other hand, experience is valued. With women?
Nah, they just develop cracks as they get older.

Don't get me wrong here, but women are not compelled to make themselves seem younger every time. Ask any 17 year-old, desperate to have a beer, and you'll know what I'm referring to.