'I am pro-aging': Jamie Lee Curtis says she wants to get rid of the term 'anti-aging'

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on April 1, 2022. It has since been updated.

In an industry obsessed with youth, actor Jamie Lee Curtis is calling on people to embrace their age. Curtis wants the term "anti-aging" removed from everyone's vocabulary. The term represents a magic fix to the aging process and portrays natural aging as undesirable. The "Halloween" actor made the comments during the Radically Reframing Aging Summit hosted by Maria Shriver, reported TODAY. Curtis spoke about how we needed to look at aging, rather than be obsessed with looking young. “This word 'anti-aging' has to be struck,” she said. “I am pro-aging. I want to age with intelligence, and grace, and dignity, and verve, and energy.”

Curtis said she wanted to embrace old age and celebrate herself. "I don't want to hide from it," she said. The goal of the summit was to explore growing older as "one of the greatest gifts in life." Some of the other celebrities at the summit included Goldie Hawn, William Shatner and Rob Lowe. Some of those participating at the summit included doctors and professors. "Growing older is one of the greatest gifts in life. And right now, with astonishing advances happening in science and consciousness, is truly a wondrous moment to be alive. So how do we seize this remarkable opportunity to live our healthiest, most joyful life possible?" read the description of the event. "It’s time to examine our beliefs and cultural assumptions about aging…and most importantly, how we can discover aging as a time to deepen our sense of purpose, joy and meaning."

Curtis also spoke about accepting the changes in her body and said not looking at herself in the mirror helped at times. “I’m not denying what I look like, of course, I’ve seen what I look like," she said. "I am trying to live in acceptance. If I look in the mirror, it’s harder for me to be in acceptance. I’m more critical. Whereas, if I just don’t look, I’m not so worried about it.” She also spoke about the importance of natural beauty and embracing that. In her upcoming film "Everything Everywhere All At Once," Curtis didn't want to conceal her age or her look. She discussed the styling of her character with those involved and said, "I want there to be no concealing of anything." She rejected the notion of using products that hide things including concealers, body shapers, fillers, procedures and more.

In an Instagram post, Curtis spoke about how focusing on her looks took a toll on her. “I’ve been sucking my stomach in since I was 11 when you start being conscious of boys and bodies, and the jeans are super tight," she wrote. "I very specifically decided to relinquish and release every muscle I had that I used to clench to hide the reality. That was my goal. I have never felt more free creatively and physically." She is determined to live her life to the fullest. "I have no effing time to waste. My motto is, ‘If not now, when? And, if not me, who?’ And, that has unleashed me and freed me, and allowed me to do everything I’m doing with zero attachment.”

It is a conversation that is cutting across the entertainment and fashion industry. Recently, Paulina Porizkova, who's been in the modeling industry for a long time spoke about ageism in her profession. “I always felt like being a model was literally being an apple in a still life. You just kind of get polished, placed, be quiet, look pretty…it was a little frustrating to me,” she said, reported Vanity Fair. She has seen the modeling industry grow for the better through the years. “I love the movement of body inclusivity and color inclusivity and celebrating different beauty as beautiful," she said. "I'm so behind that!”

Porizkova believes there's still a long way for the industry to go, especially when it comes to ageism. “I felt ashamed to be aging, and then on the other hand you go, 'But, I'm smarter, I'm better, I'm funnier, I'm more patient!'" she said. "Overall as a person, I'm the best I've ever been. So I'm not ready to be dismissed.” The model concluded, “You don't get to dismiss me because I have some wrinkles and sags and gray hair now when I'm kind of fabulous."