Indian aunties posting selfies on Instagram aren’t cringe. They’re cool

“I love how I look,” Sangtani declares unapologetically. From mall photo shoots to impromptu dress trials, from swimming in Goa to riding toy trains, she captures every moment. When shopkeepers complain about her posting photos of clothes she never bought, she tells them that her pictures will boost their sales. “Everyone tells me, ‘Aunty, we travel too, but you truly know how to have fun,’” Sangtani says, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Laxmi Shah. Photographed by Adarsh Jogani

Scherezade recalls a woman who described perimenopause as liberating. “While it is physically uncomfortable, she said that it was mentally freeing. She put it like this: ‘My expiry date has passed, so I can finally sit back, relax and be myself.’”

This is the great paradox of ageing and beauty: after years of being constrained by societal expectations, women find themselves in a moment of unexpected freedom. At the very moment society typically renders them invisible, they find their most expansive selves—unbound, unapologetic and entirely their own.

Vanity, at this stage, becomes more than a mere indulgence. It is the conduit through which women affirm who they are, choose how they want to be seen and make sure they are seen. Frame by frame, post by post, they write themselves back into a culture that erased them.