A woman recently posted a TikTok asking people to guess her age, and the answers were, in her own words, “wild.”
Emily Jane was stunned to discover that people online were guessing she was in her forties, fifties or even sixties.
“I’m 56, my guess is that you are close to 47,” someone wrote.
“I’m 42. I’d guess you’re around 51,” another theorized.
“A really attractive 42, and I’m 29,” someone else said.
The answer that upset Emily the most was when someone commented that she looked like she was about 58 years old.
“Do I genuinely look like I’m nearly 60? Like I’m nearly at retirement age? Do I actually look that old?” she asked.
Of course, among the higher age guesses, plenty of people concluded she was probably in her thirties and a few thought she was still in her twenties.
After reading some of the higher-aged answers and looking quite concerned, Emily revealed her age.
“I turned 36 last week, so only just 36,” she said.
She then explained that people often assume she’s older than she is because she’s chosen to embrace her natural gray hair.
“I’ve had gray hair for quite some time now and it is a natural gray. I started going gray around 19, and people think because I’ve got gray hair, I’m over 50,” she said.
Emily said, even with her gray hair, she didn’t know why people were guessing that she was much older.
She pointed out she has a newborn baby, so she has a few bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and wasn’t wearing any make-up in the initial video she posted, but she wanted to make it clear the way she looks is normal.
“I’ve never had any work done. This is my face, and this is what I look like, and I think this is what most people my age would look like without a filter,” she said.
Emily thinks people’s guesses had far less to do with her physical appearance and far more to do with how much social media has changed how we view women.
The 36-year-old said she thinks the fact people got her age wrong points to the fact we don’t know what a woman without cosmetic intervention and social media filters looks like anymore.
“I think it is essential to remember that what you see on social media and what you see on television or what you’ve seen in magazines, and people have said this for years, it is not real. What’s your take?” she asked.
“Do you think we have a warped perception of age based on what we’ve been exposed to on social media?”
Emily’s point didn’t seem to carry that much weight in the comments section, with people still hung up on the idea that her gray hair made her look older.
“36 going on 60. It probably is the hair that ages you but you are still very gorgeous,” one wrote.
“I think you look your age. I think it’s people’s perception that we only get white hair when we age. They can’t get past it,” another argued.
“It is just the hair that ages you. Your skin looks great,” someone claimed.
One added: “I think people get confused by a younger person feeling comfortable growing their gray hair out.”