Writing One's Own Story: Women, Aging, and the Social Narrative

Abstract

Aging for women within a patriarchal and youth-based culture has always been fraught with oppression; the experience is even more complicated in the 21st century. Over the past 30 years, feminist therapy has begun to address the phenomenological experience of women as they age and the specific needs of women over age 50. This article extends the work of previous feminist writers, offers challenges to feminism's continued ageism, and suggests ways feminists can help women navigate aging in the 21st century.