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by Robin Sharma
Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age
Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher is a guide for women navigating the challenges of aging. It offers insight and advice on how to cultivate resilience, joy, and meaning in later life, drawing on the author's personal experience and interviews with over 100 women.
Growing older can be alienating and challenging, especially for women. The author, now in her seventies, recently came face-to-face with this challenge when a little girl approached her in a park and sweetly asked, “Where do old ladies come from?”
This question might seem astonishing. But it’s not really that surprising, given the extent to which American culture excludes and disempowers older women. This alienation is so widespread that this little girl’s confusion is understandable. Consider how often older American women are portrayed negatively in popular culture. For instance, mothers-in-law are commonly the butt of derisive jokes or viewed as bossy, nagging nuisances. The word ‘witch’ is often used to describe older women, as well.
While sexist ageism overtly portrays older women negatively, this sort of prejudice manifests in more subtle ways as well, like in the total erasure of older women from popular culture. There is a dire underrepresentation of older people, and particularly older women, in American films. A 2017 study conducted by the Media Diversity and Social Change Initiative found that less than 12 percent of films that won an Academy Award between 2014 and 2016 featured older people. More shockingly still, older women were featured in close to none of them.
This discrimination against older people in Hollywood is a reflection of the prejudice endemic in American society – a culture that values youth and beauty, while fearing and denigrating the aged. This fear and hatred, known as gerontophobia, was highlighted in a 2012 study by the Yale School of Public Health. The study assessed the extent to which social groups on Facebook dedicated to the elderly expressed disapproval of older people in their group descriptions. The researchers found that nearly all of them used negative stereotypes about the elderly, often denigrating and infantilizing them.
Ultimately, unkind and discriminatory attitudes toward older people stem from ignorance. While older people know how it feels to be a child, a teenager and a middle-aged person, no other age group has experienced being old. Thus, younger age groups struggle to imagine the reality of advanced age and may lack empathy and understanding. Ageism may be understandable, but it’s still hugely damaging. And not just to the old, but to the young, as well.
Women Rowing North (2019) explores how women can continue to flourish as they enter their sixties and seventies. Through poignant stories from real women’s lives, these blinks examine the possibilities for happiness, friendship and community engagement in the later stages of life.
Women Rowing North (2019) is a thought-provoking book that explores the challenges and opportunities of women navigating the complexities of aging. Here's why this book is worth reading:
After all, ageism is a prejudice against ones future self.
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Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trialBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
What is the main message of Women Rowing North?
The main message of Women Rowing North is about navigating the challenges of growing older with purpose and resilience.
How long does it take to read Women Rowing North?
The estimated reading time for Women Rowing North is several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Women Rowing North a good book? Is it worth reading?
Women Rowing North is worth reading as it provides valuable insights and practical advice for women entering the later stages of life.
Who is the author of Women Rowing North?
The author of Women Rowing North is Mary Pipher.