Mrs. Robinson

To the Editors of the Crimson:

Margaret Y. Han, in her piece entitled "Hello, Mrs. Robinson," seems to interpret the recent media emphasis on the desirability of the older woman as something of a step forward for women: a recognition that a woman past the age of 35 should not be devalued as a possible romantic partner simply because of age. The media's shift from an emphasis on only the very young woman as sexually exciting is noteworthy, but does it really signal or promote a change in attitudes toward women? Joan Collins, Vicki LaMotta, and other mentioned are all "older" women who look like thirty-year-olds; Joan Collins may be able to find the "few lines" she mentions when she looks into her bathroom mirror in the morning, but they certainly don't appear on the pages of Playboy.

These celebrity women are not changing or challenging the notion that the older woman is not a viable romantic interest; they have simply beaten the system which devalues the middle-aged woman by being fortunate enough to look like they aren't middle-aged women. Ms. Han writes that Joan Collins "had the right idea when she posed for Playboy--to show the American public that a 50-year-old woman can and should be as sexually desirable as a girl." With the body of a girl and the face of a thirty-year-old, Ms. Collins has demonstrated only that she is a biological oddity (or the product of a lot of surgery and Jane Fonda classes). The great majority of women in her age range, however, do possess faces and bodies which have marked the passage of time. The media hype surrounding Ms. Collins and others like her only intensifies an unpleasant pressure on the mature woman to try desperately to reverse the natural process of aging--if she wants to have any chance whatsoever of remaining attractive in this American culture of youth.

Although the media may put similar pressure on men, I believe that it is considerably weaker. It is notable that Ms. Collins' Dynasty co-star, John Forsythe, is hyped and accepted as a sex symbol despite his grey hair and paunch. I will agree that there is promise of a change in media and cultural attitudes toward the middle-aged woman when I find a 50-year-old female romantic lead who is permitted a few bulges and veins. Lisa D. Haas '84