Ms. Tina Knowles, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Cree Summer come from different entertainment fields, but they all have something in common–they’re fed up with low-quality men.

These ladies also share being over 50 years old, which scratched some heads, as some believe that they’re avoiding accountability or impossibly searching for perfection. As a woman from the Midwest, it isn’t rare for women to settle down early and have multiple children before reaching 30 years old. But while Knowles and Summer have children, with Ross intentionally being child-free, they’ve spoken up about what they seek in potential partners and why past relationships didn’t serve them.

But these revelations haven’t been exempt from backlash, like Knowles, 71, who, while promoting her new memoir “Matriarch,” shared why she divorced her second husband, Richard Lawson, in 2024 after nine years of marriage. Around the 38-minute mark of Knowles' interview with Oprah Winfrey below, the entrepreneur reflected on telling Tyler Perry that her former marriage brought out the “worst” in her.

“I have finally found my worth,” Ms. Knowles explained. “And I know that I deserve to be happy. I know I deserve for somebody to be happy when they see me and to celebrate me. And it's not doing it for me. It's bringing out the worst in me and it's got to stop.”

Knowles, who was previously a victim of infidelity during her first marriage to music executive Mathew Knowles, speaks for other Black women who are worthy of a nurturing love instead of merely being tolerated. Older women are showing that regardless of age, they don’t have to settle for a relationship due to the belief that the clock is running out–they can protect their peace while dating.

Ms. Knowles recently confirmed to People that she’s currently seeing a “very nice gentleman,” Ellis Ross, 52, has also been vocal about preferring younger men.

The Emmy-winning actress, who’s never been married, gave an eye-opening explanation for not wanting older men despite dating them in the past. On Michelle Obama’s “IMO Podcast,” Ellis Ross said that men her age are generally “steeped in toxic masculinity,” and she isn’t wrong.

“And anything that starts to smell of that for me—I did enough of it where I was controlled and felt like I was a possession or a prize—I just have no interest in it. And I will not do it again," Ross said around the 19-minute mark of the video below.

Of course, the reactions were harsh, from men on social media targeting Ross as bitter or alleging that the actress doesn’t prefer men. But it’s those cruel responses that make older women hesitant to jump back into the dating pool when supposedly “mature” men aren’t open-minded about how they can make personal adjustments.

Summer, 55, who announced the dissolution of her marriage to producer Angelo Pullen in 2022 after ten years of marriage, is showing a willingness to give dating another go. 

On Shannon Boodram’s podcast “LOVERS by Shan,” the actress expressed grief about not being purposeful about suitable partners and detailed her expectation to be approached by men.

“I could have given myself the credit for how intelligent I really am. I think sometimes I found myself in situations past the expiration date purely out of loneliness,” Summer said around the 39-minute mark of the video below. 

It’s worth watching Ross and Summer’s interviews and reading Ms. Knowles' book, but the thread of all their perspectives is for Black women to know what they’re seeking instead of settling. That way, a lifetime of heartbreak can be spared, and women can enjoy pure love, even if it takes years to receive.