No Shame to Being in the Midlife Mode

Has it really come to this--otherwise intelligent women agonizing over their inability to wear short skirts and tube tops because they have reached a certain point in life (“The Midlife Mode,” Dec. 5)?

We are apparently so lacking in self-esteem that we’ve bought entirely the fashion world’s fiction that only young, thin girls (or older women who can successfully pass) are attractive. Hence the ridiculous and demeaning spectacle of women over 40 trying to dress as though they were 18.

Growing up may bring lines and sags, but it also gives women wisdom, experience, the chance to exercise power, and the opportunity for self-knowledge. It’s time we stopped being ashamed of who we are and gave our daughters something to aspire to.

BONNIE K. SLOANE

Los Angeles