Jon Glynn-Hill
Appearances
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
So that's how sex shows up and works in real life. But what about on TV and the big screen? The rise of the older woman as a sex symbol after this break. This is Explain It To Me, and now we're going to get into the depictions of middle-aged women on the screen. Things have gotten better, but is better enough? Is it realistic? That's what we wanted to ask Lisa Whittington-Hill. No relation.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
She's the author of Girls Interrupted, a book about the ways pop culture fails women. You know, we've been talking about this idea that women are hitting middle age and for one reason or another experiencing this newfound almost freedom around sex, you know, freedom from these hangups of their 20s, freedom from societal expectations of what sex could be, what it should look like.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
And I wonder how much of that has to do with what we're seeing in pop culture. You know, there's the baby girl of it all. There's the substance of it all, which was a huge commentary on women in aging.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Do you think there's a there there? Is that something? Are there more portrayals of women in middle age?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Yeah, it just seems, I don't know, like there's this major difference between and just like that and, I don't know, Golden Girls, which it's like, oh, these are about women in the same age range, which is so wild.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
I kind of think of like when Obama was elected, everyone was like, oh, my gosh, we did it, y'all. No more racism. Cool. Everyone's like patting themselves on the back.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
What does the data actually show when it comes to portrayals of, you know, older women in the media and pop culture in general? Sure.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
We talked to Marae Silcoff, who wrote that piece, about how Gen X women are kind of uniquely positioned to be freer about sex, thanks to kind of like all these different factors. Also, can I just say, Canadians, y'all are willing to go there in a way that Americans do not tend to be. Oh, yeah.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Let's talk about the movie Baby Girl. I understand you have some strong feelings about it. Did you think it sets kind of an unrealistic standard on what aging could and should be? Definitely.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Nicole Kidman, one thing she's gonna do, she's gonna play a distressed rich white woman on either a prestige drama series or a movie.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Do you think society and, you know, by extension, movies, TV, do you think society is ready to kind of like deal with a realistic depiction of the aging female body?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
All right, Lisa, thank you so much for explaining this to us. You're welcome. That's it for this week's show. If you have a question for us, give us a call. Right now, we're working on some money related episodes and we'd love to know what questions you have about buying a home or using your credit card in this unpredictable economy. You can leave a voicemail at 1-800-618-8545.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
or send an email to askvox at vox.com. Bonus points if that email is a voice memo. This episode was produced and sound designed by Victoria Chamberlain. It was edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, and engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Christensdottir, who also composed the music. I'm your host, Jon Glenn Hill. Thanks for listening. Talk to you soon. Bye!
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Mireille's piece in the New York Times magazine resonated. It went viral, and it seems like it's definitely ringing true. I mean, she got a book deal out of it. But how common is her experience really? We asked you what it's been like navigating sex in your 40s and 50s, and listener Sarah answered.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
She called in from Chicago, and she's been having a great time dating and not looking for a relationship in this era of her life.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
So who are you into these days? What does your ideal look like? Do you have a type?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
I feel like older women and younger guys is kind of a thing that's going on right now, you know, in movies and TV.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Is that something you're seeing too? And do you see it in your friend group or does it just seem like, you know, a pop culture thing?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Does it seem like sex is better for you now than it was when you were in your 20s?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Do you think it's kind of like a you're only as old as you feel thing? I mean, I don't know. It's just the way that like 40s and 50s are represented now are so different. Like we used to have golden girls and now like, I don't know, JLo is like spinning on a pole at 50, you know? They're killing it out there.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
So things have gotten better for women in their 40s and 50s. But why? What's so different between the dating scene in 2025 and the dating scene in 1995? That's after the break. This is Explained to Me. I'm John Glenn Hill, and we're back talking about sex, women, and aging. Murray says that things were different in the 80s and 90s. It was a lot harder to navigate sex as a woman.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Sexual harassment at work ran rampant. We did not talk about consent then the way we do now. And that was the basis for Gen X's formative sexual years. It was weird and messy and confusing and often dangerous in ways things aren't as much now.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Hey, y'all. I'm Jon Glynn-Hill, and this is Explain It To Me. Today, we're talking about doing it, specifically middle-aged ladies doing it and doing it well.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Why do you think this is happening with Gen X women in particular? Why is this generation so different from boomers?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
Okay, so you're a Gen X woman living in a Gen Z world. You get to take advantage of the good and the bad. You're dating. How have you been doing on the apps? I did both.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
This week, we're giving some attention to a generation that we don't talk about much, Gen X. We're starting off with Mireille Silcoff, who wrote a piece about her own experiences with aging and one of the ways that getting older has been pretty great.
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
What do you hope for middle-aged women moving forward, especially when it comes to sex, when it comes to desire, when it comes to relationships?
Today, Explained
Gen Sex
So that's how middle-aged women are feeling about sex. But is this awakening just social or is there something biological to it?