Yet even women who were confident in their Maiden body image and managed to survive the Mother years with a continued sense of beauty are vulnerable to an emotional crisis. They become alarmed by the loss of elasticity and the pull of gravity that will eventually defy the most rigorous beauty regimens. If a woman has been a slave to society's concepts of beauty, she may avoid sexual activity, unable to tolerate the painful thought of a lover's rejection. For some beautiful women, the only choice is to become a recluse, as did Greta Garbo. Since our feelings about our attractiveness influence our sexual desire, the more we dwell on negative feelings about how we look, the worse the effect on sexual desire and responsiveness.
Some women never realize that they can feel sexy at any age.
There is at least one psychological crisis to be found lurking around the 50th birthday. You become aware that the image in the mirror is older and more wrinkled. A woman's crisis of aging is the loss of her illusions about her once-youthful attractiveness. Even with the miracles of plastic surgery, she cannot ignore her aging. Sadly, some women can never accept the loss or find a way to expand their sense of beauty beyond the norms of our culture.