Protests against the genocide in Gaza have become intergenerational on an unprecedented scale. When I marched against the war in Vietnam,...
Combatting Ageism10
Learning to Be Old
What if the US had an official agency called “Learning to be Old”? Here’s how I imagine it: older women and men are scheduled for aging interviews where their aging progress is assessed followed by recommendations for a meaningful old age. When I show up for my interview I’m escorted to the women’s section and led [...]
Pat Taub
“No Time to Spare:” A Book Review
With my birthdays piling up I ordered Ursula LeGuin’s* new collection of essays, No Time to Spare, seeking enlightenment for my own aging journey. The book’s title was inspired by a Radcliffe alumni survey sent to LeGuin, class of 1951. She was dumbfounded by the question that asked how she spent her spare time. Her response: “What is [...]
Pat Taub
14 Principles for Thoughtful Aging
After blogging about aging for over two years now I challenged myself to come up with guidelines for thoughtful aging. I’ve distilled into 14 principles what I’ve learned from life experience, reading, talking with close friends and interviews with wise women. Embrace Your Failures During the 1970’s when I was studying family therapy, [...]
Pat Taub
Can We Please Stop Hating Our Older Bodies!
When I set out to photograph images of older women to post on this blog, I never dreamed I’d meet with so much resistance. Two thirds of the women I asked to photograph turned me down. Sometimes it was a flat “No” uttered in motion as the woman hurried along. Other times I’ve received comments like: “I’m too old. Me? At my age! [...]
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
Yes, You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks!
“Don’t bother trying to explain that to her. She’s too old to get it.” This is typical of the way older adults are dismissed in our youth-obsessed culture, which stereotypes older people as too set in their ways to change. Hold on! I’m in my eighth decade. I’m anything but set in my ways. I continue to find new challenges to keep [...]
Pat Taub
“Mary Page Marlowe”: Making Peace With Our Past Selves
This past weekend I visited family in Chicago, home of the famed Steppenwolf Theater, which has birthed numerous Broadway plays. My daughter-in-law treated me to a Steppenwolf matinee to see the trial opening of Tracey Letts’ new play, Mary Page Marlowe. It depicts the major events in an older women’s life: collegiate dreams to visit [...]
Pat Taub
Don’t You Dare Call Me OLD!
I have never witnessed anything quite like it: the adverse, often combative reactions many older women have to the label of “old woman.” In my classes, “Women and Aging,” when I suggest that we adopt with pride the label “old woman” to counter the negative images of the aging woman, invariably most of the class will adamantly resist–this [...]
Pat Taub
Diana Athill: Possibly the Coolest Old Woman on the Planet!
If you need inspiration and reassurance that old age can be a dynamic time and not a passage to be feared, then grab Diana Athill’s two memoirs. The first, Somewhere Towards the End, was written when she was 89. Her most recent memoir, Alive, Alive Oh! was published last year when Athill was 98! Athill is a wonderful example of how one can [...]
Pat Taub