What to Know
After seeing side-by-side photos of Rue McClanahan and Sofía Vergara, people can’t believe how age 50 looks today vs. in the 80s. A post that compares the two women has gone viral on social media, and reactions are very mixed. Rue, who was known for her roles on The Golden Girls and Maude, was about 51 in a photo shared on Reddit. Meanwhile, Sofía, who is known for her role on Modern Family, was about 53 in the photo in the post. Clearly, we’re meant to look at the photos and think, How are these women both in their 50s?!?! And while some people certainly did have that reaction, others simply chalked the contrast up to style changes.
People had very different opinions.
While some argued that skincare, lifestyle, and cosmetic procedures make women look younger today, others think Rue mainly looks older than Sofía in the photos because of styling. “A lot of this is just style,” one person on Reddit argued. “We all grew up associating Rue’s clothes and hairstyle with our grandmas. I can guarantee you that in 40 years, Sofia’s picture will look like an old granny to the young generation.”
It’s not that Rue looks way older than 50-something in the photo. She just had a haircut and outfit that many associate with older people, several people pointed out. “Take away clothes and hairstyle and you see that both of them look their age,” someone wrote. “Good for their age and beautiful, but it’s not like one looks 20 and another one 70. It’s just that when we look at Rue, we see clothes and styling that we normally associate with ‘grandma style’.”
And if it really is because of cosmetic procedures, some people don’t see that as a good thing.
Looking at the photo of Rue left some women thinking, Wow, women used to be able to just…get older. Understandably, there are lots of women who don’t want to feel pressured to look young forever (or pressured to look like Sofía Vergara). Are modern beauty standards really a sign of progress? But at the same time, there are women who are thankful for the fact that they don’t feel pressured to embrace “grandma style” in their 40s or 50s. Another Redditor observed, “It seems to me like this reflex of ‘we’re 40, gotta look elderly now’ died around the time it was gen X’s turn, like they looked at it and thought ‘naahhh, screw that.’ It’s a bit of a relief to me. I like looking good and I don’t want to stop doing that when I turn 40.” Fair enough! (Though what’s wrong with grandma style?)
Reacting to a similar post on Instagram, several people refused to engage in the comparison game and noted that both Rue and Sofía looked great, just in different ways (and with different hairstyles). “Different fashion style – that’s all!” one person wrote. “Both looking amazing.” And someone else wrote, “Literally just a different hairstyle. Both are beautiful in their different way.”
