Meet Miguel Martins. He’s a 34-year-old gay man and current finalist in the Mister Senior Netherlands competition.
“Mister International Netherlands is a pageant show, now in its fifth year,” Martins explains in a new post published by Gay Star News. “The winner from the main competition goes on to represent The Netherlands in the worldwide contest next year.”
Related: Be honest. Is 26 ‘old’ in the gay world?
There’s just one catch. The competition is only open to men under the age of 30.
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At 34, Martins is too old to complete in that contest. Hence why he’s participating in Mister Senior Netherlands, a new category that was introduced just this year for men over the age of 30. He is competing against men as old at 70.
“I wanted to champion a pageant where winning is about more than looks,” Martins writes. “I also feel it is an opportunity to tackle ageism. And let’s face it, that’s a challenge a lot of gay and bi men come up against.”
For many years, I tried to find love or at least friendship in dating sites, both straight and gay. But I realized that in general people were not really interested in getting to know me as a person. They would decide whether or not to meet me based on my photos or my ‘stats’. And sometimes being over 30 is more than enough for people to tell you that you’re too old!
Martins hopes that by competing and talking about these issues, he can help change people’s perspectives on what it means to be “older” in the LGBTQ community.
“Mister Senior Netherlands is admittedly a way to build my modeling work,” he writes. “But, more importantly, I want to use this visibility for something greater than myself.”
“Of course, I will try to own that catwalk. But on top of that I always try to be the change that I would like to see in the world, and this is no exception.”
Related: This DILF talks agism and how turning 50 was the best thing to happen to his sex life
h/t: Gay Star News
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Creamsicle
How youth-obsessed are we if we already label guys in their mid-30s as “old?” I know it’s part of gay culture, but god damn. I feel like 30 was when I really started to feel comfortable in my skin.
ChrisK
No one but the most vain and shallow think it’s old. That or the kids who think all adults are old. Men don’t even hit their prime until they’re in their 30s.
dinard38
Well damn!!!! If the 30s is old, I’m a dinosaur in my late 40s. Guess I should start taking Geritol and drink prune juice.
oz1967
So @50 should I call the funeral home?
JaredMacBride
People who think 30 is “old” are so clueless there’s no reason to pay attention to them.
ChrisK
I’d say not taking part in a male beauty pageant would be enough of a statement. Being young @ 34 and still forced into the old category is not going to change anyone’s perspective.
tnguy222
It depends how you age, and more so how dark your skin is.
Those with very little melanin, look like they are 40 once they hit 30-and age even worse if drugs or alcohol are involved.
CastleSF
You seem to have a not-so-subtle prejudice against white guys. I don’t know how the skin tone can affect your appearance after age 40 or 50. It’s more about heredity and how a guy takes care of himself.
ChrisK
I agree with CastleSF for once. That’s extremely racist of you to say. The only way that applies is if the white guy is trying to erase the whiteness with constant sun exposure.
tnguy222
Lol wut? Is it racism if it is science?
Look up the effect of melanin on photoaging.
I am definitely not racist, I love my white boys
CastleSF
It’s comforting to know that you love boys of all different races 🙂
drelocks15
I mean…there was nothing remotely racist about what he posted. The hell?
lcandela123
60 is the new 40. So, this guy is 14.
He BGB
So I’m 43. Lol.
Brian
So, this poor guy has to deal with the same thing as every woman has dealt with since pageants were invented? Except, even as a man he gets a few extra years, Miss America’s age cutoff is 24.
eireapparent
I get a lot of daddy hungry 20 year olds hitting me up. I’m 43. Yes there’s youth obsession, but these boys coming up got daddy issues. It’s wasted in me though. I’m like: young man, go get your father. Because if he looks like you only grown…damn 🙂
Heywood Jablowme
Yes, that’s extremely common with the young guys now. (In addition to their annoying inability to stay off my lawn, lol.)
Maybe it’s because they had divorced dads who they hardly ever saw? I’ve never come up with any other explanation. It’s strange how this is such a “thing” now.
CastleSF
I can relate to some young guys who are into older guys. It’s not exactly the daddy/son fantasy but more about being attracted to a very different type of men and feeling secure and welcome by them, men who have certain sex appeals that are more reassuring and grounded and less judgmental.
crowebobby
I know you’re waiting for a nasty comment from me, but I’m not going to give one. So there!!!
Countervail
Wow, that’s a rough 34. I’m almost 50 and look younger than that. I think the point is a 34-year-old should be accomplished enough and secure that they don’t feel the need to care to compete with a younger guy. Beauty fades… obviously.
tomtwo
34 old? How ridiculous this is!
winemaker
Wow, interesting article about what constittes ‘too old’. I live in San Francisco i see this everyday and it’s disheartening how many men in our community are so rude, arrogant and give you ‘attitude’ if you’re too old or aren’t their type! As for me, I’m over 50 and attracted to younger guys, always have been and i make no excuses. As a guy who weighed over 350 lbs when I came out at 26 and had many a rude encounter of ‘you’re to fat and ugly, i vowed to get in shape and get rid of the excess weight for good and finally have a decent ‘social life’ Over the years of dieting and eating right and going to the gym,and over many years I’ve lost almost 200lbs and if i do say so myself, i’m in damned good shape for 50. yrs! When i first meet guys and they ask my age, i’m reluctant to be honest with them because i used to do this and they lost interest almost immediately, their loss. it’s a shame the gay community has so many self absorbed guys that dismiss older guys ’cause they’re not their type’ even before getting to know them. So many of us will not have the luck of getting older, alas!
Kangol
Here’s a question: how did you treat older gay men when you were in your 20s? I think before we criticize younger people, we should look in the mirro. Maybe you were lovely towards them, but if not, then keep that in mind when you criticize ageism. When I was in my 20s I dated guys who were 55, 40, 25, etc. It always depended upon the guy, not the age.
Brian
I’d say count your blessings. If a guy who was otherwise interested in you loses interest once he finds out you’re 50 instead of the 45 he thought you were, he’s probably a pretty shallow person and just saved you the trouble of having to figure that out the hard way.
Then again, that’s really no different than you being no excuses for only being attracted to young guys. Don’t expect anyone else to do what you’re not willing to do yourself.
ChrisK
@winemaker. You just defined yourself as part of the very problem you’re complaining about. You dismiss guys in your own age category as being too old. Then you complain about the youngers doing the same to you.
It sounds like you kind of lost out on allot of social life as someone who was obese. Now you’re fit and your life is on rewind as your only attracted to the guys in their twenties. Very common for guys who never got the chance to sew their oats. I also see this in guys coming out of straight marriages in say their 40s. Stunted growth and all.
alanballs
Until recently, the life expectancy was, on the one hand, increasing in most of the ‘developed’ western world, only to be restricted, on the other, in work (mandatory retirement by 65), too old to be hired, barred from beauty pagents (LOL), and deemed too old by gay culture, at age 30.
If a person lives to 90, what is he/she supposed to do with the extra 60 years? Move to India and become celibate monks? The number of times my physical body has circled the sun is irrelevant and does not define, or restrict me. In fact, I find that I’m in better physical, mental, emotional, spiritual condition now, than I was in my 20’s.
In my humble opinion age obsession/worship is pretty fricked up. Life should be a process of getting better with “age”. So grateful I live in Asia, where age is less of an issue across the board, and is, in fact, an asset in many cases. Asians are known for ‘respecting’ their elders. Not so in the USA.
IamPackrat
LOL! Let’s be sure to tell Andy Cohen, Andersen Cooper, Thomas Roberts… oh and myself… that 34 is old. -.-
IamPackrat
Oh and Gavin Newsome is a straight-boy and he’s a month younger than me.
johnnymcmxxx
Message to all children: Men don’t even begin to get super hot, handsome and masculine until they hit 40. And I’m in my 20s. And they know what to do when it comes to sex.
DCguy
If you really wanted to strike a blow against ageism, how about interviewing one of the people who are 60 or 70 in the competition?
It says he’s competing against people up to age 70, but the article is only about one of the youngest people in it.
calpoidog
News flash to Miguel: If he stepped away from the pageant world, he’d find that no one in the real world thinks 34 is old. He’d probably also discover that no one in the real world wants to date a man who wears eye shadow. On second thought maybe these guys should just stay in the pageant world…