Even with gray hair, debonair George Clooney may never become invisible.I noticed something while milling around the heavily populated Minnesota State Fair this year – I felt invisible. I have heard of the phenomenom before. My father in his 70’s remarked that people look right past him. At first I thought he was indulging in a moment of elderly self-pity, but now I think he was being realistic. I have never been a bombshell-the type of woman men follow around and seek out like bees seeking honey. But, I have always felt noticed. Men, looked at me, (like they do with all young women), and take a rapid mental note as to what range of attractiveness I fall to on their scale. Women looked at me (like women do with each other) and rapidly assessed me and if I was a threat to them or not. Now, at 46, something has changed. I have been initiated into the invisible club. It seems to happen to men around age 55 (unless you’re George Clooney), and women anywhere from 36 to 50. You are no longer assessed by men as potential partners and no longer seen as a threat to other women. People (particularly the young) start to not notice you. I didn’t notice middle aged women as a teenager. This latest development isn’t all bad. I can get away with more, now. But, feeling invisible is a strange feeling when it happens to you for the first time.
