Let’s Retire From Giving Your Time Away
Women over 50 have been the world’s unpaid goodwill economy. Here’s how to start collecting. Payback is a b*tch, and honestly? So is being told to “pay it forward” when women have already been paying out like human ATMs for decades. American women perform nearly 76 percent of total hours of unpaid care work—labor valued […]
The 5 Stages of Surviving Customer Service Hell
They want us to give up. Instead, we turn hold music into a masterclass in endurance. There are few things in life that unite women across all backgrounds, cultures, and tax brackets quite like the soul-crushing experience of trying to contact customer service. It doesn’t matter what the issue is—internet’s down, credit card approved a […]
Refriending a Midlife Friendship: Can You Go Back?
When a deep connection derails, do you walk—or try again? One woman shares the raw truth of finding her way back. I fell for Martine not at first sight, but at first sound. Her accent? Parisian. Her laugh? Rumbly. Waiting for a seminar to start, I eavesdropped shamelessly as the woman behind me told her […]
What Should I Wear? The Most Dangerous Question in Women’s Facebook Groups
Honest answers not welcome. A community where taste becomes “toxic,” and flattery is the only safe answer. No wonder we’re exhausted. Last week, in a Facebook group of 20,000 women, a single mirror selfie asking “Which dress should I wear?” spiraled from style advice to accusations of bullying, body shaming, and “toxic energy.” All Barbara […]
Sorry. Not Sorry. Leave Your Shoes At the Door.
In Japan, it’s slippers. In India, it’s sacred. In America, it’s somehow controversial. Why do we keep dragging Costco floors and bathroom germs across our living rooms? Let me set the scene. I politely ask my friend to take off her shoes at the door. There’s a pause. Her energy shifts. She raises a perfectly […]
Why We Should Stop Treating Regret Like a Dirty Word
Image: Anna Godeassi[/caption] If You Have No Regrets, Maybe You Haven’t Been Paying Attention When someone tells me they have no regrets, I can’t help it. I see a person as bottled up as carbonated water, one twist cap away from exploding. Come on. Everyone has regrets—at least occasionally. The trouble is, telling someone you […]
Patriarchy Chicken and Other Acts of Everyday Resistance
A few weeks ago, I wrote about why feminism doesn’t retire when we hit midlife. But manifestos are just words. From leather and napkins to pizza and sidewalks—this is your tactical guide to everyday rebellion. Because fighting sexism doesn’t always require a megaphone. Sometimes it just takes a death stare and refusal to move aside […]
Red Hot and Righteously Angry
The Climate Lawsuit That Made the World Listen to “Old Women” Not made to roll in a rocking chair, retired Swiss Parliamentarian Pia Hollenstein took up battle against the government she used to work for instead. Knowing that more older women die from extreme heat than any other group due to unique vulnerabilities, Hollenstein wondered […]
The Life Review You Didn’t Know You Needed
What a Life Review Can Teach Us About Forgiveness, Legacy—and Moving Forward A couple of years ago, I was watching the documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts when she mentioned something that stuck with me like a seed waiting for the right season: She had done a “life review” before turning 60—an intentional process of […]
Would These Famous Men Even Matter if They Were Women?
From Steve Jobs to Barack Obama, we’re flipping the script on changemakers—and the results are … well, predictable. Imagine a world where some of the most famous men in history were women. Sounds great, right? Of course, until you realize that if they were women, they would likely have to overcome more hurdles than an […]
The Menopause Revolution: What Orca Matriarchs Reveal About Women Over 50
The Unapologetic Power of Post-Reproductive Life About five years ago, I walked out of the bathroom at a party with a piece of tampon wrapper stuck to my shoe. A friend, 15 years younger, giggled and pointed, expecting me to be mortified. But in my late 40s at the time, older than many in my […]
Touched by Time: I Went to See Cave Art. I Left With a New Understanding of Myself
In the depths of a French cave, 17,000-year-old drawings cracked open something I didn’t know I was missing. Spiritual is not a word people commonly associate with me. My sister in New York is the one who channels and manifests. I’ve long said the wrong sister moved to California. No personal God or goddesses for […]
