A woman recently posted on TikTok asking people to guess her age, and the answers were, in her own words, “crazy.”
Emily Jane was surprised to find people online speculating that she was in her forties, fifties or even sixties.
“I’m 56, I guess you’re closer to 47,” someone wrote.
“I’m 42. I’m guessing you’re about 51,” another person speculated.
“I’m really attractive at 42 and I’m 29,” someone said.
The answer that upset Emily the most was when someone commented that she looked about 58 years old.
“Do I really look almost 60? Like I’m approaching retirement age? Do I really look that old?” she asked.
Of course, in the higher age speculation, many people think she may be in her thirties, while some people think she is still in her twenties.
After reading some of the older answers, Emily looked concerned and revealed her age.
“I turned 36 last week, so I’m only 36,” she said.
She then explained that people often think she’s older than she is because she chooses to embrace her natural gray hair.
“I’ve had gray hair for a while, it’s a natural gray color. I started going gray when I was about 19 and people thought because I had gray hair that I was in my 50s,” she said.
Emily said that despite her gray hair, she didn’t know why people assumed she was much older.
She noted that she had just given birth to a baby, so she had some bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, and was not wearing makeup in the initial video she posted, but wanted to clarify that her look was normal.
“I’ve never had anything done. This is my face, this is how I look, and I think this is what most people my age look like without filters,” she said.
Emily believes the speculation has less to do with her appearance and more to do with how social media has changed how we view women.
The 36-year-old said she believed people misunderstood her age, showing that we no longer know what women look like without the filter of plastic surgery and social media.
“I think it’s important to remember that things you see on social media, see on TV or in magazines, people have been saying that for years, that’s not true. What do you think?” she asked.
“Do you think we have a skewed view of age because of what we’re exposed to on social media?”
Emily’s point doesn’t seem to matter that much in the comments section, where people still think her gray hair makes her look older.
“36, 60. Maybe your hair is making you older, but you’re still beautiful,” one netizen wrote.
“I think you look your age. I think people think hair only goes gray as you age. They can’t get over it,” another argued.
“It’s just your hair that ages you. Your skin looks great,” someone claimed.
One added: “I think people get really confused by young people because they think they can grow gray hair easily.”