While I was more of a Girlfriends fan, one can’t deny the impact that Sex and The City had on pop culture. Whether it was Carrie Bradshaw’s fashion-forward looks, or Samantha Jones’ open and honest views about sex, the show definitely earned its pop culture legacy. So when the news hit that a reboot of the show, titled And Just Like That, is set to return to screens this December (sans Kim Catrell’s beloved character), it’s no surprise that so many people were estatic.
But unlike the six-season HBO show that garnered such a following amongst twenty and thirty-year-olds, the reboot is focused more on older women, leaving us to wonder how the cast approaches healthy aging.
Healthy Aging With The Sex and the City Cast
Sarah Jessica Parker: Screw Ageism!
While there were plenty of people elated at the news of the reboot, others weren’t so happy.
Speaking to Vogue Magazine for their December issue, Parker (who’s also the magazine’s cover star) revealed that some of the backlash she received was rooted in ageism,
“[On social media] everyone has something to say. ‘She has too many wrinkles, she doesn’t have enough wrinkles,’…
It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly okay with where we are, as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better. I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?”
According to Parker, sexism is at the root of the ageist comments as she does not believe that her famous male pals will ever experience the backlash that she and her co-stars have had to endure,
“‘Gray hair gray hair gray hair. Does she have gray hair?’ I’m sitting with Andy Cohen… and he has a full head of gray hair, and he’s exquisite. Why is it okay for him?”
Nonetheless, the Golden Globe clearly isn’t letting the ageist comments get to her as she continues to embrace her age and live her life, especially since the passing of her co-star Willie Garson and her SJP shoe line partner George Malkemus – both men passed away from cancer. Despite the heavy losses, Parker is able to look back on the memories of the two men fondly,
“There’s so much good in the world, and we were all so lucky to be together, doing something we loved.”
Kristin Davis: Get enough sleep
Sleep is important, especially for healthy aging. In fact, a June study from UCLA found that new mothers who get too little sleep in the first six months after giving birth can experience three to seven added years to their “biological age.”
It’s clear that sleep can have a profound effect on your health, so it’s no wonder that Davis prioritizes it so much.
Speaking to SELF earlier this year, the Couples Retreat actress revealed that her wellness focus is all about sleep.
Sharing her sleep routine, she revealed that she incorporates taking a vitamin D supplement before bed (she’s deficient in vitamin D), before laying on a heating pad, “I just need heat.”
Cynthia Nixon: Check your breasts
In 2006, the actress was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. Now, while this news would rattle anyone, for Nixon, the diagnosis wasn’t ‘a big deal’.
For one, she had already had experience with breast cancer as her mother successfully battled the illness 30 years prior to Nixon’s diagnosis so not only was she prepared for the disease, she practically saw it coming,
“I’ve learned that if you catch breast cancer early, the chances are overwhelmingly good that you’ll be cured. So my attitude, which very much mirrored my mother’s, was this wasn’t a big deal.”
Early detection saves lives
While a breast cancer diagnosis not being a big deal depends on the person, what is true is that catching it early can literally save your life. In fact, women whose breast cancer is detected at an early stage have a 93 percent or higher survival rate in the first five years.
Following the diagnosis, the actress was treated with radiation for six weeks and underwent a lumpectomy and she also became an ambassador for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 2008.
As for the reading?
The Ratched actress told OprahDaily that a good book is one of the things that she can’t live without.
“If I leave home without one, the lure of reading news article after news article on my phone is too tempting. Being submerged in a book is much better for my mental health.”
Not only is reading great for your mental health but, according to research, reading as you age can help to reduce cognitive decline as well as improve your lifespan (bookworms live almost two years longer on average than those who don’t read at all.)
Main Image Credit: justlikethatmax/instagram
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References
Bavishi, A., Slade, M. D., & Levy, B. R. (2016). A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity. Social science & medicine (1982), 164, 44–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.014
Carroll, J. E., Ross, K. M., Horvath, S., Okun, M., Hobel, C., Rentscher, K. E., Coussons-Read, M., & Schetter, C. D. (2021). Postpartum sleep loss and accelerated epigenetic aging. Sleep health, 7(3), 362–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.002
