Take Pamela Anderson. We all remember her as the unhinged sex symbol of the 90-00s, the thin-browed blonde bombshell with the red swimsuit and the tabloids on her tail. But look at her now: she reclaimed her own narrative after the stolen sex tape havoc with a Netflix documentary, broke hearts with her role in The Last Showgirl, and started serving us wholesome chic and… rose peppercorn pickles. Yet her peace isn’t accidental — it’s resistance after decades of being reduced to flesh. And now, when she graces the red carpets with close to no makeup, we finally see the soft beauty of her soul. She is living proof that in a world still trying to convince us that beauty fades, authenticity is the real forever.

The heiress of millennial hearts, Paris Hilton, opened up about her struggles with abuse that honestly shook me to the core — and revealed that the whole persona of the spoiled bratty trust-fund baby, including that signature voice, was basically a trauma response. Yet somehow, I won’t be surprised if she has an ageing portrait locked away in the attic of her Malibu mansion. These days, Paris is busy building her family — something she’s been open about wanting for a long time — while sliving and running her empire in full bedazzled mode. And still, let’s not forget that one time she went to court for cocaine possession and said that the handbag in question didn’t belong to her because it was cheap. Iconic. Meanwhile her Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie openly battled bulimia for decades, and has recently shared that she’s finally at a place where she feels at home in her body.

And Lindsay — the freckled ginger cutie who conquered our hearts in The Parent Trap and wrote the girls’ cinematic bible with Mean Girls — never shied away from self-irony about her fall from Hollywood darling to courtroom regular. But in a recent interview, she admitted that moving to Dubai, where it’s straight up illegal to take unsolicited pictures of people, gave her peace and, evidently, a plastic surgeon wizard. Even just writing this, it’s finally clocking to me (in Justin Bieber voice): the fact that those women found any peace at all is revolutionary.

We all hear the familiar Y2K echoes in the music of Charli XCX, Addison Rae, and the style and moves of the K-Pop girlies. Even Sam Levinson couldn’t resist recycling the pop-diva aesthetic in the universally hated, but watched nonetheless, The Idol. While Tate McRae’s hits send me back to my teenage room when I was trying to nail the Pussycat Dolls’ Buttons chair routine. And miraculously not breaking a bone. Don’t get me wrong — I’m living for this horny-pop renaissance. But for today’s pop stars, the stakes are different. They took the good stuff — the sexy beats and the barely-there stage fits — and left the tabloid crucifixion behind. Rightfully so. But it makes this comeback a little bittersweet. The industry is still far from perfect, but at least it’s learned a thing or two. Icons then survived public execution. Icons now thrive on algorithmic chaos. Are they the second coming of Britney? Maybe. But this time it’s TikTok, not TMZ.

Let’s be fiercely real: we still live in a culture that fetishises youth — but the cracks are showing. I’ll tell you this though: I’m 33, and it’s better than it’s ever been. My worst nightmare is waking up in some reverse rom-com nightmare called 30 Going on 13. Sure, there’s some nostalgia for when my biggest problem was the beer getting warm a little too fast on the beach. But would I trade everything I’ve learned about this silly thing called life for being 20 again? Absolutely not.

If there’s one thing I know for sure — through my own mess and through watching the icons of my youth transform — it’s this: if you didn’t “prime” (whatever that even means) or become a billionaire (do you even want to be one?) before 20, you can start again at 30, 40, 50, 70, 90. Print this on flyers. Rain them down from balconies.

And just because the author of this article has a knack for the mystical — and since you’ve read this far — let’s talk archetypes. Enter Hecate, the Greek goddess of thresholds and transformations, often depicted with three faces: maiden, mother, crone (aka stages of a woman’s life). While the world loves to slap a “best before” label on women, she reminds us that we don’t expire after out maiden years — we shape-shift into another phase. With. Equal. Power. In modern day and age, that looks different for everyone. Some women wear their silver hair and wrinkles like couture, others choose face-lifts and fillers. Kris Jenner herself summed it up perfectly: “If you feel comfortable in your skin and you want to age gracefully — meaning you don’t want to do anything — then don’t do anything. But for me, this is aging gracefully. It’s my version.” The point? Whichever road you take — realness will always radiate louder than Botox.

The proof is everywhere. Vivienne Westwood, Michèle Lamy, Iris Apfel, even Majo from The Parisian Agency. Unapologetic women who refused to dim with years, who treated authenticity as their legacy. Some still strutting among us, some immortalised in memory. One of my favourite IG accounts, @sciuraglam, is basically a crone altar: Italian women in fur coats and chunky carats, sipping espressos, smoking cigarettes, and yapping with their besties. Because even in their golden eras, they’re still literally just girls. The Ancient Greeks knew all along. It’s about time we all remembered, too.

Funnily enough, as I was writing this article, I opened IG (I love overstimulation, ok?) and the first thing I saw was a reel of Charlize Theron saying she’s proudly 50 and recently had a — ahem — spicy encounter with a 25-year-old. Direct quote: “It was awesome.” You go, girl. Kudos for living out The Idea Of You plot IRL. So while I’m placing my order for a Y2K camera that actually works and actually starting to make peace with the return of low-rise jeans, let me leave you with this:

Never be ashamed of how many years you’ve lived. Because the more you f*ck around, the more you inevitably find out. And what you find out — hopefully — is a way to live at peace with yourself at every stage of your life.

And honestly? I cannot wait for 40.