Getting older is an OPPORTUNITY

Clementine Ford says it's time to rethink the way we view dating after 40

- AMBER BRAMBLE

Dating can be difficult at any stage of life and unfortunately it rarely gets easier with time. For women especially, it doesn't help that we've been raised in a society full of sexist single-lady stereotypes.

Author, feminist and host of the Dear Clementine podcast, Clementine Ford, says that while it's true women face specific dating challenges as they reach their 40s, there are also advantages that often get overlooked.

"There's a smaller pool of people, and people interpret that as their options becoming limited," she says. "My suggestion is that women should see it as an opportunity for their options to become more specific. We have an idea of what we need and what we want. And we have a much clearer idea of our own standards."

THE POWER OF CHOICE

While society often conditions women to fear getting older, Clementine says it doesn't have to be that way. "Instead of absorbing this cultural message that women lose their potency as they age, we should start thinking, 'Isn't this great that I'm at a point in my life where I'm way less tolerant of those that do not serve me?" she explains.

"Sure, that might mean that you date a little less, but the quality that you're inviting into your life is so much higher than you were willing to put up with when you were younger and you thought that a relationship was the goal."