WOW: Women's Older Wisdom
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Feminism10

Childless by Choice

In my Zoom class on Women’s Spirituality, we watched the film, “A Goddess Remembered,” which put us in touch with the legacy of our female ancestors.  In one segment, Jungian psychiatrist, Jean Shinoa Bolen, commented, ‘When I had a child, I felt connected to all the women who came before me.’ The implication was that until she [...]

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We Won’t Go Back!

Friday morning, I was driving with the car radio on, blissfully contemplating my summer weekend when my reverie was interrupted by a news flash that the Supreme Court had declared Roe v. Wade unconstitutional.  I screamed in outrage before erupting into tears, crying for college friends who had back-alley abortions when abortions were illegal.  [...]

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My Father:  The Tyrant

I grew up in the 1950’s when gender roles were strictly defined. My mother, like most women of the era, stayed at home, focusing on creating the perfect home and perfect children. My father, like Don Draper in “Mad Men,” spent long hours at the office, mainly seeing his kids at the dinner table and on weekends, when he wasn’t catching [...]

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Women Who Restore My Faith in Humanity

Last Friday I attended a memorial service for 96-year-old Joanne Booth, who never failed to brighten my day when we met up. Joanne’s infectious, slightly mischievous smile, was contagious, as was her love of life.  As I listened to her four daughters deliver their warm, loving accounts of their mother’s full life, my mind wandered to [...]

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Ageism is Real!

Ageism, defined as discrimination against the older adult, is very real in the lives of many, if not most, American women. The older woman loses her currency for no other reason than she looks her age. At work, her suggestions are frequently rejected; socially she is shunned because she no longer looks young; her adult children consider her [...]

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The Mother-in-Law Curse

When my oldest son became engaged, a luncheon was arranged to introduce me to his finance’s family. When I glanced around the table, I caught my future daughter-in-law’s sisters scrutinizing me.  I experienced the uncomfortable sensation that I was being sized-up to determine the extent to which I’d be a problematic mother-in-law. I [...]

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Celebrating Women’s Home Altars

Archaeologists have found traces of women’s home altars as early as 8000 BC. They pop up in the goddess civilization of Minoan Crete, during the Roman Empire, and sporadically in European, African, and Asian history. But in the US, the popularity of women’s home altars is a recent development. The women’s spirituality movement, which [...]

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The Strong Woman Trap

A neighbor, an elderly woman, who’s been through the mill caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s is referred to as a “strong woman.”  I know several Maine women, well into their ‘70’s and ‘80’s, who have carved out self-sufficient rural lifestyles, including chopping their own firewood. They too are called “strong women.”  [...]

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