She is known for her outspokenness and discreet elegance. Recently invited to the show C l’hebdo, the former host of the Grand Journal spoke with emotion about her relationship with image. After years of doubts, today she enjoys a late but profound reconciliation with her mirror.
“There’s a long period, I think it’s true for a number of women, where you see yourself and you recognize your mother and it’s very, very painful.”she explains. This complex face-to-face ended up giving way to total appeasement.
Now committed to the visibility of fifty-year-olds with its media Ladies and his book The invisible womanshe advocates a beauty that is no longer measured by wrinkles, but by inner balance.
A stage of development: the “plural renaissance”
For clinical psychologist Aline Nativel Id Hammou, this transition is not an end, but a real mutation. She explains that middle age marks a stage of development where we seek to align our inner identity with our outer image.
“In clinical psychology, we are experiencing a phenomenon of plural rebirth“, analyzes the expert. According to her, it is essential to move away from anxiety linked to appearance to enter a phase of self-validation. She specifies: “You have to be able to detach yourself from the gaze of others or society and instead have a positive view of yourself when you look in the mirror.” The objective? Understand that we can remain attractive and desirable while accepting the markers of time.
The challenges of middle age, between bodies and new roles
Physical aging and menopause impose physical and hormonal changes that impact mood and self-perception. But beyond the body, it is the woman’s place in the family that is being transformed. At age 50, many become “caregivers,” called upon by aging parents, adult children or grandchildren.
Faced with this pressure, Aline Nativel Id Hammou advises you to relearn how to say no to preserve your own projects. “The recommendation is to know how to say no and to revisit your work time.”she emphasizes. It is also the time of “empty nest syndrome” which, far from being only negative, offers the opportunity to reinvest one’s energy for oneself.
Combating social invisibility through affirmation
There is a cruel paradox: at the moment when a woman reaches her peak of skills and experience, society sometimes tends to make her invisible. For the psychologist, this feeling of being sidelined must be actively combated. “The challenge is to always allow yourself to be in freedom of being and to age serenely.“, she says.
The role of public figures like Maïtena Biraben is crucial here. By claiming their age as an asset and a source of pride, they help all women to escape the fantasy of immortality and embrace the present. At 50, there is still a large part of life to invent, with emotional and cognitive creativity often increased tenfold.
Fifty is more than a number; it is the moment of the “mid-life crisis” which allows us to mourn the loss of past youth in order to better project ourselves. As Maïtena Biraben summarizes: “Beauty is when you feel good inside, when you are calm, when you know yourself better.” An inspiring program for all those who decide, finally, to say to themselves: “Honestly, you’re good.”