While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in...
Activism
Be A Force for Compassion!
Imagine a runaway train charging from Washington, DC to California emitting hate from its smoke stacks, collecting more venom at each station. This is what life in in the United States has become under Trump. How do we stop the Trump Hate Express? We can start by practicing compassion, a proven antidote to hate. As Martin Luther King famously [...]
Pat Taub
#MeToo
Guest post by Mary Beth Danielson I’m not usually cranky. Then I got a cold. I rarely get colds. What’s going on? Of course I have #metoo incidents. Like most women I have several stories of harassment and, yes, one of assault. As self-aware women do, I’ve been poking at my crankiness. Why am I mad? Why does this rankle? I have [...]
Pat Taub
The Unbearable Suffering of Palestinian Mothers
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about a YouTube video I watched over the weekend, “How to be a Palestinian Supermom.” It features the Palestinian mother Manal Tamimi, describing her determination to provide a loving home for her children in the face of unrelenting Israeli oppression. Like most Palestinian mothers Manal never knows [...]
Pat Taub
Engaging with Fear
The Trump wrecking machine is getting crazier by the day, leaving a frightened populace in its wake. Our increasingly unhinged president raises the ante through his racist speeches, threats to bomb the country du jour, attacks on the environment, ICE’s immigration raids, and railings against anyone who doesn’t agree with him. While [...]
Pat Taub
Alexandra Merrill: Aging Meaningfully
“I’m not done with my transformation.” Alexandra Merrill, on the cusp of 80, quoting Stanley Kunitz in his poem, The Layers, which he wrote upon turning 90. Zanda, as she is called, embodies aging meaningfully. I’m proposing substituting “aging meaningfully” with the commonly used phrase “aging successfully,” [...]
Pat Taub
Celebrating the WOW Facebook Community
Today marks my 100th posting since launching WOW in August 2015. WOW came about when, looking for resources for my course “Women and Aging,” I goggled “blogs for older women.” To my dismay the vast majority consisted of advice on how to dress younger, lure a man, up your sex drive, cosmetic surgery and the like. In other words, how [...]
Pat Taub
White Privilege: Me?
Like the vast majority of white Americans I’ve been numb to my white privilege for most of my life. As a progressive thinker and activist, I never thought of myself as racist—that is until the Black Lives Matter Movement challenged whites to examine their privilege, publishing article after article highlighting our bubble. It’s impossible [...]
Pat Taub
Lisa & Janet: Advice from Seasoned Activists
As concerned Americans take on Trump’s regressive policies, there’s a new urgency afoot. We can’t afford to waste time on ill-fated resistance. A good way to sharpen our activist tools is to pay attention to what seasoned activists can teach us. In this post, two of my favorite activists, Lisa Savage and Janet Weil, both in their [...]
Pat Taub
Call for a Global Women’s Peace Army!
With Trump pushing us closer to extinction daily, I’m convinced that we need an army of women to save the planet. International Women’s Day is the perfect time to mount a global women’s charge. While there are male leaders protesting Trump’s cruel policies and Dr. Strangelove fantasies, they don’t always go far enough. We need massive [...]
Pat Taub
Be An Older Woman Warrior
Who’s the older woman warrior? She’s the woman who, into her old age, continues to carry the torch for change because she sees this as central to aging meaningfully. She cares deeply about the world her children and grandchildren will inherit. She takes a stand for what she believes in. She’s not afraid to be controversial. She figures [...]
Pat Taub