Hips don’t lie, Liam Gallagher – there’s no shame in getting them fixed | Gaby Hinsliff

The singer's refusal to have replacement surgery reinforces horribly negative ideas about older bodies

Psst, want to feel old? Liam Gallagher, the eternally chippy younger brother of rock, apparently now needs a hip replacement. At 49, the ex-Oasis frontman is suffering from arthritis, which he seems to be approaching with customary but misplaced stubbornness. This week it emerged that he is refusing to have the surgery his doctor recommended, because hip replacements are for old people. And who wants that?

I think I'd rather just be in pain," he explained to Mojo magazine. It's the stigma, saying you've had your hips replaced." Either he hasn't seen the reboot of Sex and the City in which a fiftysomething Carrie has surgery on hers, or else - surprise, surprise - one lone stab at reinventing the idea of growing older for primetime isn't nearly enough.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist