A lot of us make a big deal over turning 30, but really, it's not that bad.  It certainly doesn't mean that your life is over, as long as you're a man that is.  If you're a woman, then, yeah, you're done. According to a new study, the average man doesn't start feeling old until he hits age 58.  The average woman starts feeling old at age 29. That means it literally takes twice as long for men to feel old.

By Daily Mail Reporter 

26th March 2011                                                                                                              

Women consider themselves old at 29 – half the age of men who don’t feel over the hill until they are 58, according to a study. A quarter of women say they felt old as soon as they spotted their first grey hairs.

In contrast men tend to think they are still young until they can no longer perform in the bedroom.

Perception: Women start to feel old by the time they are 29 thanks to society's obsession with youth and beauty. It is thought that this gulf between the sexes is because age perception is so determined by society’s attitude towards youth and beauty.

The modern woman may feel ‘past it’ if she doesn’t fit an ideal. Men, who are less defined by their looks, refuse to act their age until nearly 60.

Commenting on the findings, psychologist Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University said: "In our society the attractiveness of women is quite important. Men don’t have to be good looking but, for some reason, it’s important for women to look presentable".

Performance: Men feel they are over the hill around the time they can't perform in the bedroom. Magazines are all about youth and are filled with young, attractive women. Women then start to perceive themselves as old when they no longer feel like this, when they don’t feel trendy or fashionable.

‘Men, on the other hand, don’t have to be good looking, it doesn’t concern them.’

He added: 'At 30, women have matured, they're expected to think about getting married and starting a family.'While the majority of men are much more career orientated - they don't feel old until they've reached retirement age.'

The study, by Avalon Funeral Plans, also found 10 per cent of women say they feel old when they they think their once youthful skin has started to sag. A further 50 per cent said they were still youthful until their ‘assets’ started to droop – often caused by childbirth and breast feeding.

And 3 per cent believed behaving like their mother was a definite sign of old age.

For men it was far more simple – two-thirds said they felt past it only when they could no longer perform in the bedroom. And 22 per cent admitted it was when they thought music had become too loud in bars.

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