Why is it considered 'bad' if an actress looks older than an actor?

Hey everyone! 😊

Food for thought- why are people so against seeing a woman older than a man, but readily accept the reverse?

For example, I for one, thought Ranbir-Madhuri were smoking in Ghagra and I would like to see them in a film together. 😆 I know I'm in a dire minority when I say this, but I don't think it's a big deal if a woman LOOKS older than the man opposite her.

I think it's just social conditioning. We have been told since we were young that a girl should be at least the same age or younger than a boy, whereas it's totally okay for him to be even 10-15 years older than her. So, older man-younger woman has become the norm, but older woman-younger man is a taboo.

I hope BW changes this trend by not retiring actresses as soon as they hit 30 and increasing their shelf life, like for men. The pejorative 'aunty' is also used for older women, as if the only quality that gives value to a woman is her age. When will this change?

What say?

Why is it considered 'bad' if an actress is taller than an actor?

Originally posted by: Shy_

Why is it considered 'bad' if an actress is taller than an actor?

Very valid question. I never understood why there' such an obsession with men being taller than women, especially in BW, where tall girls are preferred.

I also don't think it's a problem if she's taller than an actor. These are age old gender norms that we should get rid of, in today's world.

It depends on how the make-up artist creates your look. Madhuri-Ranbir were so good together. Even Rani-Ranbir. If the make-up artist does a bad job, like in the case of KKK in BB then it looks bad.


Stereotypical Bollywood. An actor can do just about anything and everything. An actress always has at least one, if not more, limitations.

Originally posted by: Cutiepie Rani

It depends on how the make-up artist creates your look. Madhuri-Ranbir were so good together. Even Rani-Ranbir. If the make-up artist does a bad job, like in the case of KKK in BB then it looks bad.


Stereotypical Bollywood. An actor can do just about anything and everything. An actress always has at least one, if not more, limitations.

@bold- But why? That's what I mean to ask- why is it not acceptable if a woman 'looks' older than a man? We accept the reverse easily.

@bold2- That is true. There are many glass ceilings yet to be broken.

Like you said, it's the society being reflected in the movies as well. It's very rare to find the wife older than the husband, and if at all it happens it's mostly in case of love marriages. I remember when AbhiAsh got married, media never failed to mention how Aish was older. Would that have happened if it was the reverse?

Originally posted by: .Jane..

Like you said, it's the society being reflected in the movies as well. It's very rare to find the wife older than the husband, and if at all it happens it's mostly in case of love marriages. I remember when AbhiAsh got married, media never failed to mention how Aish was older. Would that have happened if it was the reverse?

I think it's also mostly because people used to get married very young earlier and till a certain age, girls mature faster. Maybe it was done to ensure that wavelengths matched. Though it hardly makes sense for anything to match as teenagers but that's what I can come up with. The age of marriage has progressed but the thinking stuck on.

Ranbir and Konkana paired so well in WUS and the film worked just fine. So I do feel that given a proper story and justification, audience will accept it. But yea, not as conventionally as they do for vice-versa.

@bold- Totally. Loved WUS and RanKana in it. ❤️

Did the media go crazy about her age? 😲 So immature. There was not as much focus on Shahid's age in the ShahMira marriage news. It was just treated as normal, despite him being >10 years her senior.

I think with growing urbanisation and development, the old notions of maturity don't fit anymore. Yeah, it was done to ensure wavelengths matched, but now, I think things have changed.

I hope the audience becomes more accepting of unconventional matches.

Originally posted by: clarity

@bold- Totally. Loved WUS and RanKana in it. ❤️

Did the media go crazy about her age? 😲 So immature. There was not as much focus on Shahid's age in the ShahMira marriage news. It was just treated as normal, despite him being >10 years her senior.

I think with growing urbanisation and development, the old notions of maturity don't fit anymore. Yeah, it was done to ensure wavelengths matched, but now, I think things have changed.

I hope the audience becomes more accepting of unconventional matches.

If the story demands the actress being older than the actor, then why not? Looking the part is also one part of being the character! So if the story demands two similar age people together & the girl looks older than the guy then it is weird to watch. Same goes for if the guy is older than the girl! Like wouldn't it be really weird to watch if it were SRK instead of Arjun opposite Alia in 2 states? Many people find it very creepy when the guy is very much older too.

Looking the part is one of the important parts- sometimes the older thing works, sometimes it doesn't! Like in WUS, even though they didn't stress on Konkona's age much but it still worked really well even though she look older cause her character needed a more matured persona than Ranbir's.

It is all due to stereotypes that man should be older, taller and in every way superior to woman.

People are so sexist that they didn't even like wide being more successful professionally in KANK (SRK-Preity).

If we can tolerate dada ji looking buddahs with girls young enough to be their daughters, as heroes then what is wrong if a heroine looks "older"?

This is a useless social construct that needs to be done away with. Totally outdated.