Brooke Shields Is Midlife Bestie We All Need
Apr 13, 2025
I just finished Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old and honestly, it felt less like reading a memoir and more like having a brutally honest, wine-soaked heart-to-heart with the midlife bestie I didn’t know I needed.
Let’s just get this out of the way: if Brooke freaking Shields doesn’t feel confident until her 50s, what hope did the rest of us have in our 30s when we were still trying to figure out how to contour without looking like a stage actor in a school play?
In her new memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she pulls back the curtain on a life most of us only saw from a distance—gorgeous Calvin Klein ads, flawless movie star smile, and that iconic hair. But inside? Girlfriend was scrubbing dishes at parties. Not because she spilled the queso. Because she felt like she had to earn her place just by existing.
Let that sink in.
“I would find myself doing the dishes at people’s parties so I could feel like I deserved to be there,” she writes. “Like maybe if I worked hard enough, no one would notice I didn’t belong.”
Excuse me while I go hug every younger version of myself who thought being “nice” and “helpful” was the ticket to being accepted.
This book isn’t some Hollywood fluff piece. It’s raw, funny, uncomfortable in all the right ways, and deeply validating—especially for women over 40 who’ve finally stopped asking permission to take up space.
Confidence: Better Late Than Never?
One of the most powerful data points Brooke drops (yes, she brought the receipts) is that a woman’s confidence doesn’t match a man’s until age 50. FIFTY.
So, while dudes are out here swag-walking into boardrooms at 25 with three facts and a whisper of experience, we’re second-guessing whether our email tone sounds too aggressive. Or too passive. Or too… emoji-forward.
And yet, there’s a turning point.
“I used to walk into a room hoping people would like me. Now I walk in wondering if I’ll like them.”
Boom. That line should be printed on a t-shirt, embroidered on a pillow, and stamped across every birthday cake from here on out.
Why This Book Hits Different for Women Like Us
If you’re a woman who’s spent decades unlearning the idea that being palatable is the same as being powerful, this book is your mirror. It doesn’t preach, it relates. It laughs at the ridiculous expectations we’ve all tried to meet—and then drops wisdom like it’s hot.
Brooke talks about her body, her marriage, her failures, and the bizarre experience of being both highly visible and totally unseen. And somehow, she still makes you feel like you’re chatting with that one brutally honest friend who always has wine and snacks.
It’s not a “how to age gracefully” manual. It’s more of a “how to stop giving a damn and finally trust yourself” anthem.
TL;DR:
If you’ve ever:
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Felt like you had to apologize for your existence
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Had to relearn what it means to take up space
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Thought confidence was something other women had
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Or just love a good glow-up story that starts later in life…
Then Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old belongs on your nightstand.
Trust me. It’s the kind of read that makes you feel seen—and maybe even a little bit dangerous.
Because when women over 40 stop trying to earn their place and start owning it?
We’re not just aging.
We’re leveling up.
