It is very common, especially for women over 30 who look younger to hide their age from their boyfriends and other people. On the other hand, women in their 20s take pride in bragging about how young they are. For the “old enoughs” what they want for Christmas, Easters or mothers day will be a smoother looking skin to keep the other people guessing their age.
“Many women are desperate to get hooked to men and fear that when they reveal their age to potential boyfriends, they may be shocked when they find out that they are much older. It is all about men. That is why we want to keep looking young for them to pounce on us thinking that we are younger,” said one Bizo Goromente whose hair was being done at a salon in the Village.
She said many women do not accept that they are aging and want to be younger forever. “But how long will that last? I never hide my age. I am 28 and most of the guys that I meet think that I am 24. I appreciate it but I will never hide my age to date a younger man,” Goromente said.
Another woman in the saloon, Dika Ntshole looks more like a twenty eight year old but in actual fact she is forty. “I never hide my age,” she said before showing her identity card to confirm her age. She looks much younger with her baby face, petite body and hair extensions falling down her cheeks. “Maybe it is because people do not believe that I am forty. They only see le-14 and that is why I am dating a younger man who is 27. Maybe he likes the fact that I am playful and does not care about age. Age matters in relationships,” Ntshole said.
She confirmed though that she has met many women who feel that it is not important to reveal their age because it is not everyone who ask about woman’s age in good faith. “They may want to use your age against you or to tease you. There are people who look much older while they are much younger.
These kind of people do not feel at ease being asked their age they do not like it because other people tend to use that to tease them,” Ntshole explained.
Another woman who preferred anonymity said that it is all about feeling young. She said that they think age is nothing but a number “and some do not even believe that there is a word called old. They have many options of what to do to keep looking young. So they believe that if they utter their big number, they will feel the weight of their age and that’s the secret”. She said that for some women it is about attracting younger men. “Older women feel much younger if they date younger men who do not even know that they are sleeping with women old enough to be their mothers.
I prefer to tell my age rather than hide it when I go into relationships because most of the time, the age issue just blows out of proportion if the man finds out. It is a risk,” she emphasised.
According to a man known as Billy, women have to be protective about what they have so that they cannot be vulnerable.
“Women are in a dilemma. Eventually they want to get married but they are scared to get their views straight to their partners. On the other hand, they cannot chose their partners. The partner chooses them,” he says before shrugging his shoulders.
Most women say that the age issue is not limited to females only and some men are fond of hiding their age. They say there are men who date older women by pretending that they are their age.
