Wanted: Inspiring stories of working women over age 60
why do we mostly read about politicians over the age of 60 — where have all the old(er) women gone?
Since Spring 2020 I have been thinking about Spring 2021 — to get out of lockdown and to turn 60. And I am looking forward to both.
Although who are my role models for the 60–80 time frame? How often do we see positive, inspiring stories of women at that age and why does it matter?Since I plan to continue working, the ones that I look like to read about are fully engaged in meaningful work. They may be breaking through the glass ceiling, leading an organization to higher heights, stepping out of mainstream to be an entrepreneur or applying their hard won skills to a non profit sector. It may be full time or enough time to make a difference and allow them to enjoy travel, kids and grandkids, their life long partner, a new relationship or other assorted passions.
Only Politicians make the papers
But it seems unless you are a politician or an actress, we just don’t see the stories — or enough of them — of women 60–80 years of age in mainstream media. Stories about their past accomplishments and their future plans — yes future — the next twenty or so years they plan to continue to contribute. If I want to know about them, who else does? How damaging is this to our demographic to not see them, let alone the generation below women and men who are increasingly wondering whether they should want to keep working at that age. I want to know who they are, be inspired by them and think that through this, more women can take a small step of their own to chart their future. And even if you are 100% satisfied with where you are, everyone can enjoy the stories for their grit, energy and passion with which these women go about their daily lives.
Hitting their stride at 65
The good news is many women are just hitting their stride at that age. In a quick glance at world leaders women over 60 consistently represented are Prime Ministers or Presidents, like Angela Merkel (65) Chancellor of Germany, Sahle-Work Zewde (70) President of Ethiopia and of course Nancy Pelosi (80) Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Linda Thomas-Greenfield (69) US Ambassador to the UN. And Executives like Ursula von der Leyen (61) President of the European Commission and Christine Lagarde (64) President of Europe Central Bank.
These are very high profile, accomplished women often groomed early on to these posts and deservedly we need to hear more about them and what makes them tick. They clearly are helping shape the future.
Equally importantly we need to see and hear about non political representation to further inspire us to keep going and make these silver years work for us and make a difference for others. There are stories about the many women 60+ who have started their own businesses to move away from discrimination and gender inequality that they have endured for years. These silver start ups are embracing their entrepreneurial spirit and combining it with personal activism like when Gail Dunn at 62 started the Women’s Automotive Connection in Georgia, now she’s 70 and the business is still thriving. 86 year old artist Lorraine O’Grady using her provocative and varied art forms to get under the skin of identity, or Ernestine Shepherd, one time the world’s oldest female bodybuilder when she was 74, and thankfully Judy Woodruff at 74 is still offering balanced commentary on PBS, while the indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, was an absolute icon for women right up until her passing. Executives like Lisa Mensah at 60 is the President and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network, and Fabiola Gianotti at 61 as Director General of CERN neither who look to be slowing down anytime soon. So many other executives and nonprofit sector leaders at this age make a huge difference to how we still imagine what’s possible for our lives after 60.
Where do we go from here?
Even after two days of viewing International Women’s Day speeches, proclamations, songs and conferences, I couldn’t find very many of her. Don’t get me wrong, I was impressed, inspired, motivated and excited to hear and see women from 18 on up demonstrate their commitment to gender parity, balancing the workload at home and empowering women to be the best they can be. But to have such a scarcity of 60+ women talking about what they have done already on the global stage was a missed opportunity to put some silver hair into the phrase “intergenerational leadership”.
If we don’t read about them and promote their strengths, their ideals, their energy, they become invisible. These are the international women’s stories I want to read about. Share your favourite ones here and inspire us all.
