Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness.

Brooke Shields (b. 1965) began her public career at the age of 11 months when she appeared in her first advertisement. She became a child model and actress who appeared in numerous commercials and several films, including Pretty Baby, where she played a child sex worker and appeared nude at the age of 11. Her film career continued into her teen years, during which time she starred in films like Blue Lagoon (1980) and Endless Love (1981). She was also a model for Calvin Klein jeans, helping to launch the designer brand. Shields was renowned for her good looks and was deemed the face of the 1980s by Time magazine.

Shields’s parents divorced when she was a baby. Her mother was her primary caregiver and managed her modeling and acting career. Shields describes her relationship with her mother as close and dependent. She admits to being unable to function without her mother, not even knowing if she liked certain foods without her mother telling her. Her mother’s persona overshadowed her own, leaving Shields lacking independence. With age, however, Shields has reclaimed her freedom and counters stereotypes that say that middle age is a time of decline for women. For Shields, life has so much left to offer, and she finds joy in the unknown of the future, something she would have found terrifying in her youth.

Shields grew up under the public eye, which shaped her relationship with herself and with others. She was often a people pleaser in her youth, unwilling to say “no” or stand up for herself out of fear of appearing difficult. Over the last two decades, she has worked on her self-advocacy and self-image. For example, she infamously stood up to actor Tom Cruise in an op-ed for The New York Times after Cruise publicly denounced her for taking antidepressants for postpartum depression, the topic of her first book. Shields’s response to Cruise was publicly well received and inspired a larger national dialogue about the condition. This incident boosted her confidence and served as one experience that encouraged her to advocate for herself in a variety of settings, including medical, entertainment, and business environments. 

Though she had little business experience, Shields founded a company (Commence) to address middle-aged women’s hair care needs. Her past experiences have given her the confidence to pursue this enterprise and to admit what she does not know and when she needs help. On starting Commence, she reflects, “I didn’t know enough to know that I should be scared. The only thing I knew was that I couldn’t do it alone, so my first step was to find someone who knew more than I did” (205). Shields no longer fears others’ judgment of her looks as she ages, nor does she feel obligated to say “yes” to please others. She has reclaimed midlife for herself.