The Age of Brooke Shields

Some stories are so perfect and poignant that even if we suspect they are not true, we simply do not want to know.

There is a white peacock perched inside Brooke Shields’s home in New York City. She named it Steve. He sits frozen on an acrylic pedestal, feathers draped to the floor. Ms. Shields was told he was rescued from other peafowl, who can turn aggressive toward their old, pecking them to death.

“I’m probably being lied to through the beak,” said Ms. Shields, whose pun usage can be contagious. But the story made sense to her. She sighed at the taxidermy. “The really beautiful ones are all male. Doesn’t it figure?”

There is no universal experience of aging. But surely some American women can relate to feeling pecked or prodded, and pushed aside when they reach middle age.

At least that was a sentiment shared with Ms. Shields in 2021, when she founded an online community called Beginning Is Now. More than 100,000 people followed the group’s Instagram account, which posted inspirational content for women over 40.

It felt very much like a women’s magazine — with interviews, listicles, giveaways and recurring columns (Dear Brooke and Brooke Don’t Cook) — though without all of the advertising. Beginning Is Now mostly sold merch: workout sets and bright yellow hoodies.