Suzanne Harrington: Hag hate and the stubborn belief that age only happens to other people 

We are all hags — if not now, then sooner than you think and mid-life is frankly joyous — the most liberating and zero-fucks era of all

Mary Beard and Madonna both receive vociferous 'hag hate' says Suzanne Harrington. Pictures: Jo Hale/Getty Images and @Madonna

International Women’s Day is coming up. Its tagline this year is #EmbraceEquity, and illustrates this noble idea with lots of gorgeous young women giving themselves a hug. Of the 18 images on the IWD website, there’s only one representation of a hag — that is, a middle-aged woman — amid 16 shiny glowy Gen Zs and Millennials (and one bloke). Even feminism won’t represent us.

Women in their 40s and 50s, writes Victoria Smith in her new book Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women, have “been fucked then ghosted by life itself. Feminism won’t answer our calls, it’s changed its number.”