Cecile Richards died on Monday, January 20, 2025. She was the courageous President of Planned Parenthood from 2006-2018, when the organization...
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.
A Daughter-in-Law’s Take on Mothers-in-Law
by Edwige Charlot, Guest Blogger This post is a response to “Why Do Mothers-in-Law Get A Bad Rap?” published on WOW on June 20th . From my time as the girlfriend, I knew that if my then boyfriend and I ever got married I’d be marrying into his family. By the time we were engaged, I was already well versed in the mother- in-law [...]
Pat Taub
Dressing Cheerfully, Carrie Fisher & Thoughtful Aging
An Older Woman with a Positive Attitude I took this photo of Sandi on Pine Street in Portland’s West End. She was flattered that I asked to take her picture. I complimented her, “Your red hat is wonderful.” Her response, “I’m very proud of it. I decorated it myself.” I love Sandi’s entire colorful ensemble and her accompanying [...]
Pat Taub
Winning Videos for Summer Watching
Maybe you’re on vacation facing an all-day rain, or you’re laid up with a summer cold, or you simply want to escape the maddening crowd to binge video, but you face too many choices. How to settle on a video that won’t have you restless ten minutes in? To help you I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite videos featuring strong [...]
Pat Taub
Women’s Friendships, Beatrix at Dinner & Avocado Toast
The Magic of Women’s Friendships As I age I increasingly value my close female friendships. It’s comforting to grow old with women who can resonate with the challenges of aging and the settling in that accompanies it. I was reminded of the vitality of women’s friendships when I spotted these two old friends in animated discussion over [...]
Pat Taub
What’s a “Bad Feminist”?
In her bestseller, Bad Feminist, 40-year-old Roxane Gay calls herself a “bad feminist” because she likes Hip-hop music with sexist lyrics, “Law and Order” (which abounds in rape plots), anything pink, and Vogue. I assume Gay, a third wave feminist, consulted the second wave feminist playbook when drawing the conclusion that she’s [...]
Pat Taub
Getting to the Beach, Young Feminists and The War on Women
Marching (briefly) with Pride Supporters Last Friday night, the day before the big Saturday Pride March, I was walking to dinner with my friend Lisa when we encountered a group of unofficial Pride marchers, undaunted by the rain, marching in a take-back-the-streets spirit. We briefly joined in, staying with the group for a few blocks [...]
Pat Taub
Why Do Mothers-in-Law Get a Bad Rap?
“A mother-in-law should be blind in one eye and deaf in one ear.” —Armenian proverb Without going to this extreme, many contemporary mothers-in-law make conscious efforts to monitor their behavior, but often to no avail. Once a woman becomes a mother-in-law she’s typically the butt of mother-in-law jokes and pejorative labels. [...]
Pat Taub
Garden Angels, Granddaughter Jane & A Handmaid’s Tale Finale
Flowers in Memory of My Mother I belong to a progressive church in downtown Portland, which mercifully accepts my spiritual confusion. Last Sunday, in memory of my mother, I donated the altar flowers, purchased at the farmer’s market. They were exactly the kind of natural bouquet Jane would have loved. Garden Angels Update A few weeks ago [...]
Pat Taub
Summer Reads that Wow!
For me, summer reading is all about picking up an actual book, which I do throughout the year, but not with the same frequency. Summer reading is the time to indulge myself with the physical world of print: to turn paper pages, admire beautiful covers and recapture those summers before books were downloaded. First on my list is Arundhati Roy’s The [...]
Pat Taub
Protesting, Coloring My Hair & “A Handmaid’s Tale”
Political Notes Last Friday I joined in an action in support of Palestine; we were protesting 50 years of Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It’s always heartening to be with other long-time activists that I often don’t see unless we’re sharing the sidewalk holding our protest signs. On Sunday I watched Risk, Laura [...]
Pat Taub