Protests against the genocide in Gaza have become intergenerational on an unprecedented scale. When I marched against the war in Vietnam,...
Combatting Ageism9
Finding Your Retirement Compass
By Luisa Deprez, Guest Blogger How do you do something you have never done before? How do you realign your life – completely – after moving out of well-established routines of over 40 years? How do you grasp the idea that you are no longer on another’s time clock? That the one you now have is completely yours, to do with [...]
Pat Taub
The Golden Girls c. 2016: Cooperative Housing for Older Women
Now that I’m in my seventh decade I’m starting to think about how I want to live when I’m really old. That day will come for me–and for all of us–when I won’t be steady on my feet, when aches and pains will rule, and when I’ll want the company of like-minded souls close at hand. Additionally I’ll want easy access to [...]
Pat Taub
Mrs. Hughes of Downton Abbey: The Older Woman’s Body Shame
In the opening episode of Downton Abbey’s Season Six, middle-aged Mrs. Hughes is anxiety ridden at the prospect of being seen naked (and presumably having sex) when she marries her finance, Mr. Carson. The year is 1925 but older women’s body shame persists in 2016. It may even be worse today given the mounting cultural obsession with looking [...]
Pat Taub
Don’t Peg Me as Your Run-of-the-Mill Old Lady
In 2015 older women (and men) are redefining old age, embracing it as a complex, even rich period in our lives. We rail against the prevailing stereotypes of the bent-over elderly person hobbling along with a cane or a disgruntled old bag. We are a diverse group, reflecting a wide range of older adults. While I fit the cultural stereotype [...]
Pat Taub
The Trap of Being a Strong Woman
From time to time, I will publish a post for “Flashback Friday” from my prior blog. This post was first published in February, 2013. It remains relevant in that many older single women function well living solo. But when they experience loneliness, they feel unable to fess up to it because they are regarded as “strong,” [...]
Pat Taub
History’s Mean Trick: From Wise Woman to Witch
For several hundred years during Europe’s Middle Ages old women played a central role. In village after village they were revered as healers, midwives, and caretakers to the dying. In the mid 1500’s as the Catholic Church sought to extend its power, the influential village wise women were a clear threat to a looming patriarchy. Church [...]
Pat Taub
GUEST POST: Cropped at Sixty
“How long ago did you stop coloring your hair?” I brought up this question to my CODEPINK buddy Jackie Barshak as I drove her and a couple of 20-something activists up Highway 95 from Las Vegas to Camp Justice, across the road from Creech Air Force Base. We were in Nevada to take part in Shut Down Creech, a major mobilization in [...]
Janet Weil
Getting Old Doesn’t
Have to Suck
While I have my share of aging complaints: arthritis, a jaw line that is no longer firm–ditto for my major body parts, sleep problems, and bouts of loneliness, I can find plenty to cheer about in the becoming-an-old-lady department. For starters, I’m more confident. I no longer agonize about my choices. I don’t own the guilt [...]
Pat Taub
Learning to be Old My Way
I’m very clear that I want to grow old differently from the old lady personas adopted by many of our grandmothers and mothers, who donned polka dot dresses, dispensed little candies from their pocket books, and smiled demurely while keeping their opinions to themselves. Nor do I want to grow old having succumbed to plastic surgery to peel [...]
Pat Taub