Whitley Gilbert Did Not Survive Hillman for Y’all to Age Shame Her!

First of all, put some respect on Whitley Gilbert’s name!

Jasmine Guy gave us Dina in School Daze, then walked onto the campus of Hillman College as Whitley Gilbert and became one of the most unforgettable women in television history.

Now, nearly forty years later, the internet is upset because she committed the ultimate celebrity crime.

She aged.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the woman who starred in A Different World is now living in a different decade. Apparently, some people expected Whitley to remain frozen in 1988, wearing shoulder pads and arguing with Dwayne Wayne forever.

That is not how time works, beloved.

Apparently Aging Is a Scandal Now

After recent pictures of Jasmine began circulating online, people started criticizing her appearance and claiming she had not aged well.

Excuse me, but were we expecting Whitley to stay young forever while the rest of us collected birthdays, bills, reading glasses, and lower back pain?

People were comparing Jasmine today to photographs taken when she was a young woman under professional lighting, wearing full makeup, with an entire television production crew making sure every curl was in place.

Because that is always fair.

Jasmine responded with far more grace than many of us would have shown.

She explained that the internet can be brutal toward women as they grow older. She acknowledged that aging brings changes that are not always easy, but reminded everyone that “beauty, style, and joy don’t have an expiration date.”

And she is absolutely right.

Women Cannot Win This Aging Game

If a woman ages naturally, people say she let herself go.

If she gets Botox, people say her face does not move.

If she gets surgery, people start comparing before and after pictures like they work for the FBI’s Facial Reconstruction Unit.

If she looks young, people demand to know what she had done.

If she develops a wrinkle, the internet calls an emergency meeting.

Ladies, what exactly are we supposed to do?

Now, let me be completely honest. I am a Botox and surgery girl. If a little freezing, lifting, tightening, or tucking makes me feel fabulous, hand me the appointment card, the mirror, and the ice pack.

I support doing whatever makes you feel confident, as long as you are doing it safely and because you want it.

But that is the important part. It is a choice, not a requirement.

Every woman should not have to visit a surgeon just to make strangers on social media comfortable with the fact that she survived another birthday.

Some women want Botox. Some women want a facelift. Some women want a good moisturizer, eight hours of sleep, and for everybody to stay out of their business.

All of those choices are valid.

Let Whitley Live

Jasmine Guy is still beautiful, talented, stylish, and working. She returned to the character that made her famous and reminded a whole new generation why Whitley Gilbert remains one of television’s most unforgettable women.

She does not owe us the face she had in her twenties.

None of us still have the same face, body, patience, or tolerance for foolishness that we had forty years ago. Thank goodness for at least one of those changes.

And let us discuss how differently aging is treated when it comes to men.

A man gets gray hair, forehead lines, and a little extra stomach, and people call him distinguished.

A woman shows one wrinkle and suddenly strangers are writing dissertations about what went wrong.

Nothing went wrong. She lived.

Aging is not a personal failure. It is proof that you are still here.

My Final Take

Jasmine handled the criticism with far more grace than many of us would have.

Because after reading some of those comments, my response might have been, “Yes, I got older. So did you. The difference is that I minded my business.”

Whether a woman chooses Botox, surgery, neither, or all of the above, that decision belongs to her.

So let Jasmine Guy age. Let her smile. Let her work. Let her enjoy her life. Let Whitley Gilbert come back with every line, wrinkle, lesson, and fabulous outfit she has earned.

And if seeing a 64 year old woman look 64 ruins your day, perhaps the problem is not her face.

Perhaps you need a hobby.

Now tell me what you think. Is the internet too cruel to women who choose to age naturally, or do you think public figures should expect comments about their appearance?

Whatever you choose for yourself, make sure you are doing it because it makes you happy, not because people online are typing criticism with one hand while using a beauty filter with the other. 💋