Hollywood actress Julianne Moore calls for end to 'sexist' term 'ageing gracefully'

Julianne Moore, 60, says "there's so much judgment inherent in the term 'ageing gracefully'". Photo / AP

Hollywood actress Julianne Moore is leading the charge to flip the script on how women are commonly referenced after passing a certain age, calling for one term, in particular, to be scrapped entirely.

Moore, who turned 60 in December, delivered a lashing to people with the habit of using the phrase "ageing gracefully" in the latest issue of As If magazine, People reported.

The A-lister described the term, which was almost exclusively used when speaking about women, as "totally sexist".

"There's so much judgment inherent in the term 'ageing gracefully'," the Academy Award winner told the publication.

"Is there an ungraceful way to age? We don't have an option of course. No one has an option about ageing, so it's not a positive or a negative thing, it just is," she argued.

Moore challenged the idea that the process of ageing was something women somehow had personal influence over and thus could opt in or out of doing it "gracefully".

"It's part of the human condition, so why are we always talking about it as if it is something that we have control over?" she said.

Stressing the importance of ongoing "inner growth", Moore argued people should be regarded for the ways they continue evolving throughout adulthood instead.

Julianne Moore appears in a scene from the film "Still Alice". Photo / AP

"We are given a narrative as children that we keep growing through school, maybe go to college then, after school is finished, the idea of growth is done … But we have all this life left to live," she said.

"How do we continue to challenge ourselves, to interest ourselves, learn new things, be more helpful to other people, be the person that your friends and family need or want? How do we continue to evolve? How do we navigate life to have even deeper experiences?"

She said answering such questions were "what ageing should be about" in the context of how women were spoken of.

She is known to younger audiences as President Alma Coin in Hunger Games. Photo / AP

The star also endorsed a comment made last year by Helen Mirren in an interview for O, The Oprah Magazine, in which she slammed the phrase "anti-ageing".

"Ageing is a requirement of life: You either grow old or die young," the 75-year-old was quoted as saying.

"I take great issue with the term, actually. You can't avoid ageing. The way I see it, you have two choices in life: You can either get older, or die," Mirren said at the time.

"And I want to continue to see what life has in store. I think about Kurt Cobain and all that he missed. I mean, how sad is it that he never knew about GPS."