The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play...
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 Must Read Book: “All the Single Ladies” by Rebecca Traister
I spent last weekend glued to the nonfiction best seller, All the Single Ladies, a brilliant Feminist study by Rebecca Traister. It deconstructs how single women from Civil War heroines like Clara Barton to leading Suffragettes to today’s young women in their 20’s and 30’s have delayed or rejected marriage in order to escape its restrictions [...]
Pat Taub
The Heartache of Losing Close Friends
Perhaps the aspect of aging I find most difficult is losing dear friends–friends I had planning on spending time with into my dotage. In this post I’m paying homage to them, grateful for our close connection and for the invaluable lessons they gave me. Diana died just a few months shy of her 60th birthday; Zoe was 63 and Ray was 69. [...]
Pat Taub
What is the Role of Elders in Social Change?
For a minute, let’s put aside our carnival election cycle dominated by Trump’s windbag comments and Hillary’s obfuscations. Let’s get real. Let’s focus on our environmental and moral crises and ask ourselves, “What responsibility do we, as elders, have in creating social change?” It’s easy to become overwhelmed in the face [...]
Pat Taub
Celebrating Four Pioneering Women Artists
There are countless remarkable women who came before us who deserve our attention and respect, but history often obliterated them. The current special exhibit at the Portland, Maine Art Museum (Women Modernists in New York) is helping to correct this omission by resurrecting four early 20th century women artists, who, aside from Georgia O’Keefe, [...]
Pat Taub
Facing One’s Mortality
Last week I posted a note on the WOW Facebook page, describing how I got in touch with my mortality (not for the first time) after parting with my grandkids following a trip to Japan with them. I wrote that Jane and Max will probably visit Japan again, but such might not be in the cards for me, given my advancing age. In response, concerned [...]
Pat Taub
Two Elder Maine Women Poets: Janet Shea and Joanne Booth
Maine, where I live, is familiar to many as the grayest state in the nation. What is often overlooked in this statistic is the phenomenal number of elder women who continue to create art and live meaningful lives through their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Maine’s old women continue to inspire me as I move through my 70’s. In this spirit [...]
Pat Taub
The Yellow Coat : A short story by Pat Taub
The yellow coat was an odd choice for Mother because she usually went along with what her friends wore, but no one else had anything that even closely resembled mother’s yellow coat. It was made of thick cashmere in a deep canary color with red buttons and a red lining. It had a swing back, typical of ‘50’s glamour, and a seductive [...]
Pat Taub
My Picks of Videos Featuring Strong Older Women
It’s a rainy night or one where you just want to stay in and kick back with a good video, but finding one you like can be a little daunting given the wide array of choices. To help you along, I’ve compiled a list of my favorites with older female protagonists. Most of them are BBC series. I find the British portrayals of older women more [...]
Pat Taub
Meaningful Aging
Guest post by Dr. Tami Yaguri (This is an excerpt from an upcoming talk on aging to be delivered in Dusseldorf on July 8, 2016.) “When do we get there?” Kids ask their parents the minute they get in the car for a long drive. The kids do not know yet how to appreciate the view outside the window, the road, and the sense of togetherness [...]
Pat Taub
Flashback Friday: Where Have All the Feminists Gone?
This is a post I published in February, 2014. Since we’re on the threshold of nominating a woman to be the Democratic Presidential candidate, who identifies as a Feminist, I think it’s important to examine what Feminism represents in 2016: who it serves and who it doesn’t serve. Having come of age during the second wave [...]
Pat Taub