A friend and colleague passed along an e-mail from a woman seeking to promote her book and her movement or, as she calls it, pandemic called “Age Esteem.” According to the copy on her website, “Age Esteem” seeks to create a world where age and aging are celebrated and people of all ages are seen as important, contributing members of society.” Like so many such movements, er, pandemics nowadays, she offers training and workshops, books and magazines and CDs and a monthly online newsletter. While I noticed a picture of a man somewhere among the collection of smiling mature faces, the audience would seem to be primarily women, an observation supported by a news brief mentioning the author, Bonni Lou, presented to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations recently. Impressive.
It seems kind of sad – and a little strange – that in 2008, what with people living longer and all, there needs to be a movement helping us combat negative stereotypes about age and aging. Aren’t there still societies where the elderly are revered or am I flashing to a previous incarnation, say a few centuries ago?
Nowadays, fifty is not so much the new forty as the year in which we all pass out of the coveted advertising demographic and can count on being targeted mainly by those selling retirement funds, restricted living developments and almost any medicine. Women feel pressured to stay on top of their game even earlier. Let’s face it; you don’t hear much about trophy husbands. Meanwhile, men’s magazines and websites don’t seem to target age groups quite as strenuously; once the guys get past the slacker years, they all appear to be reading pretty much the same things.
If women have to work extra hard to stay fit, dress well and look hot into their middle years and beyond, they’re at least getting lots of help in print and online. The latest woman-oriented endeavor comes from four wildly successful women of, yes, a certain age who, with the assistance of a group of well-known female contributors, also of a certain age, have combined their marketing and business savvy to launch a new website called Wowowow.
The site is still in its beta testing phase, meaning subject to change. Some of the articles, like “Is Adultery Bred Into the Male Animal?” lean a little towards the “ladies magazine” prototype of yore but posts on finances, politics and international stories have also found their way onto the pages. The bloggers adding their comments strike me as intelligent and thoughtful people. I have high hopes for a site perpetrated and populated by such high-powered females. Statistics show women are still living longer than men. Since we’re going to be around awhile, I’m all for positive attitude adjustment. Besides, there’s a lot to talk about.
1 Woman' s Vu by Nikki Stern 