My heart is heavy as I take in the reality that Gaza is uttering its last breath. Israel is forcing starving Gazans further and further...
Pat Taub is a family therapist, writer and activist and life-long feminist. She hopes that WOW will start a conversation among other older women who are fed up with the ageism and sexism in our culture and are looking for cohorts to affirm their value as an older woman.
Will We Ever Learn?
My heart is heavy as I take in the reality that Gaza is uttering its last breath. Israel is forcing starving Gazans further and further south luring them with food drop-offs, which have become death traps. To date 400 Gazans have been murdered rushing for a bag of flour. The handwriting is on the wall. The ethnic cleansing of Gaza is imminent. [...]
Pat Taub
Mommie Dearest
Molly Jong-Fast’s new memoir, “How to Lose Your Mother” conjured up memories of the 1981 film, “Mommie Dearest,” where Faye Dunaway played Joan Crawford, Hollywood’s narcissistic abusive mother. Jong-Fast is writing about her famous mother Erica Jong, author of “Fear of Flying. Jong, while narcissistic was not physically abusive, [...]
Pat Taub
Speaking with Clothing
Fashion commentator Emily Chou observes “Every time you dress, you’re making choices and even an “I-don’t-care” message is a clear statement.” We all want to be thought of in terms of our ideas and talents, but because we live in a visual culture, it’s almost impossible to avoid having others form a first impression based on [...]
Pat Taub
Waking Up
When I think about what has made my life meaningful, it’s come from those experiences where I woke up. Events that rocked my world when I was confronted with truths that ran counter to how I was living my life. As a young woman I was awakened as a result of living through the Viet Nam war and the second wave of Feminism. As the Viet [...]
Pat Taub
Motherhood Revisited
GUEST POST by LISA SAVAGE Yesterday I read a novel that took me back to the fierce experience of becoming a mother under late-stage capitalism. Claire Kilroy perfectly captures the despair and precarious state of infant mothers where there is no mothering for them. The protagonist of SOLDIER SAILOR is at the end of her rope and very nearly [...]
Pat Taub
A Newfound Freedom
More and more older women are discovering a new voice: one that embraces a newfound freedom. Sharon Blackie, author of Hagitude, contends that women tend to lose their inhibitions as they age. Aging often ushers in a new confidence. Many older women describe themselves as not the same person they were 20 or 30 years ago. Living through [...]
Pat Taub
Whom to Remember on Mother’s Day
I propose that we enlarge Mother’s Day to honor not just our biological mothers but our spiritual mothers as well. They are the teachers, neighbors, aunts, family friends and others whose generosity of spirit left an indelible impression on our younger selves. Often these women didn’t have their own children but lovingly nurtured and [...]
Pat Taub
Films to Raise Your Spirits
Many of us are feeling like we’ve been plunged into a spiral of dark news. Daily we are deluged with stories of large-scale migrant deportations, abduction of students who peacefully protested for Gaza, mean-spirited cuts in critical social programs, like Head-Start. At the same time Congress has allotted the defense department a record [...]
Pat Taub
Courage Reimagined
The story of women journalists in Gaza requires a new definition of courage. Many of these women are under 30. Several are young mothers. Daily they risk their lives to document the horrors of the escalating genocide in Gaza. Last year, Israeli bombs killed five women journalists in 24 hours. It’s difficult for most Westerners to [...]
Pat Taub
Do You Suffer From Play Amnesia?
The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play as a valuable resource to diffuse stress and lighten one’s mood. For example, when your news feed becomes too much to take in, take a break, and turn to humorous writing, like Dorothy Parker or The New [...]
Pat Taub