Is a Woman’s Life Over at 60?
By Marquesa Lola
This is Marquesa Lola. I am a mature woman wounded emotionally by a partner and suddenly finding myself single again after 40 years. Is a woman’s life over at 60? I proclaim to the world that I refuse to wither and fade because society believes my life is over. My life just began!
When a man turns 60, he is at the prime of his career. He can even be the president of a powerful corporation or even a country. If he is in a position of power, or money, he becomes a magnet for women and friends. He buys a porsche, wears colorful shirts, talks like a 30 year old, and walks through life thinking he is a “god” even when his prostate is the size of a melon.
“I proclaim to the world that I refuse to wither and fade because society believes my life is over.”
But, Oh! The irony! A woman turns 60; she has worked all her life at home and outside the home. As a young woman , she was a modern girl, and she was made believe a career would give her life and financial independence, but all it did was add eight extra working hours to the already demanding job she earned as a homemaker and mother once she is married.
She may have ended up building a nice career and felt she contributed to the world and society as well as to her personal fulfillment. That is a great feeling, but now at 60 she is expected to think about retirement to spend more time with her family, take a few trips, host Thanksgiving feast, and perhaps take care of a grandchild.
At the same time, that older woman becomes invisible to people and men in particular. Her hair is cut shorter, and if she happens to have plastic surgery, she is called pathetic.
Even though these are true facts for some women, I can’t help but think that it is exactly what society (men) expects us to become when we are older. So I refuse to comply. NOT ME, and I speak for many women. We, older women, know first hand that 60 is the new 40. Whether you happen to be with or without a partner, you owe it to yourself to get another chance to renew your appetite for adventure, start a new career, a new relationship, set new personal goals, find beauty in mundane things and begin a renovated fulfilling life.
It is a marvelous time to be confident, to be your own master without the inhibitions younger generations hold. At 60 I am wiser, bolder, and many times fearless. I wear mini skirts, colorful dresses, or blue berets. I don’t care about what anyone thinks because I want to live for the moment and for the kick of it.
“It is a marvelous time to be confident, to be your own master.”
If you are like me in your 50s or 60s, get healthy, train for your first half marathon, get the brightest, shortest dress you can handle and go dancing, clubbing, go to have dinner on your own (after all, you are your best friend), study a new degree, start your own company, travel alone, find a new friend on Tinder.
Do anything you wanted to do when you were younger that you set aside because you could not fit it in your busy schedule. Live life again. Girl, you still got it! You deserve it! The next 30 years are the best years yet to come.