Older Women and Aging

Too Soft, Too Tough, Never Just Right: The Impossible Standard for Women Leaders

PUBLISHED 8/28/2026 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

This week:
—”My mother started in politics in her early thirties. Over the course of her career, she tried to run multiple times. But for one reason or another, it was never quite her turn. … Whatever regrets, pity or unfairness she’s carried, she has simply accepted in silence, just like lots of other women I have encountered in my life.”
—Wednesday was Women’s Equality Day. Even with every constitutional right guaranteed on paper, would our electoral system actually produce a government where women hold their fair share of power? Right now, the answer is no.
—Already the first Muslim woman and first Afghan American to serve in the California state senate, Wahab is the first Afghan American to serve in Congress.
—Minnesota is among 18 states to never elect a woman as governor. But earlier this month, women swept the nominations for open seats for governor and U.S. Senate in their primaries.
—Tressie McMillan Cottom asks, “Is Ocasio-Cortez ready for the glass cliff?”
—”Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s blocking of promotions for high-ranking women in the military has contributed to the lowest percentage of such nominations for women in at least 25 years,” according to a New York Times analysis.

… and more.

‘That’s Just Aging’ Is Not a Diagnosis

PUBLISHED 8/28/2026 by

As a physician, I was trained with the same mantra: that hormone therapy was only for women who were absolutely miserable, and that if we were to prescribe it, it was for the least amount of time at the smallest dose.

That was completely wrong.

In 2002, part of the Women’s Health Initiative study was halted prematurely for a press release that essentially stated that hormone therapy caused breast cancer—when in actuality, the women who took estrogen alone (those without a uterus) actually had a reduced risk for breast cancer.

The mangling of that messaging is in large part responsible for scaring a generation of physicians off prescribing hormone therapy and terrifying generations of women away from taking the very things—estrogen and progesterone—that improve the immediate symptoms of menopause (such as hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and recurrent UTIs) and prevent the long-term consequences of estrogen depletion like osteoporosis, heart disease and premature cognitive decline.

Every time you refuse to accept a doctor telling you, “That’s just aging,” you aren’t just advocating for yourself. You’re doing structural work. You’re demanding to be seen as a full person, not as a set of body parts.

The questions women ask in exam rooms are how the gap between medical evidence and clinical practice closes. It’s how we close the disparity between men’s health and women’s health.

Health, after all, isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about asking better questions—of yourself, and of the people responsible for your care.

I Put My Career on Hold to Raise Five Children and Care for My Disabled Mother. America Depends on Women Like Me.

PUBLISHED 7/28/2026 by

Front & Center amplifies the voices of Black women navigating poverty—highlighting their struggles, resilience and dreams as they care for their families, build careers and challenge systems not built for their success. Now in its fourth year, Front & Center is a collaboration between Ms. and Springboard to Opportunities, a nonprofit based in Jackson, Miss., working alongside residents of federally subsidized housing as they pursue their goals.

Christy is a Jackson, Miss.-based mother of five, family caregiver and entrepreneur. She is caring for her disabled mother while pursuing her dream of one day growing her catering business into a food truck.

“Taking care of my children and my mom at the same time is rewarding, but it is also hard. I really don’t get much help with my kids from their dad, so most of the time I’m here with them.

“What would make caregiving for two generations of family easier, is a break. If my mom had places to go, or if somebody could take her every other weekend or even every weekend sometimes, that would give me time to myself to breathe and live a little bit. My siblings are far away, my car situation makes it hard to get around and I’m always here, so having a little peace would help me and my kids too.

“Childcare vouchers … helped a lot with after-school care and transportation, but when I recently had to recertify, I was cut off because I missed getting a copy of my ID in by the deadline and ended up on a waiting list.”

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Will Strip Healthcare From Millions—Especially Women and Disabled People

PUBLISHED 7/7/2026 by and

Over 70 million people depend on Medicaid. The Trump administration and members of Congress who constantly turn to the program to make cuts, want you to think that’s a problem. It isn’t—it’s the point.

Every talking point repeated by politicians, amplified by the media and embedded in the rhetoric of those who just voted to gut $1 trillion from the program, is not a policy argument. It’s a cover story. The administration’s story of a typical Medicaid beneficiary is rooted in falsehoods about who is currently supported by the program.

The reality of Medicaid looks like:

… a 59-year-old woman in North Carolina who closed her small business because her eyesight failed, who sorts recyclables at a concert venue when the season allows, who survives on less than $10,000 a year and who relies on Medicaid for arthritis medication and blood pressure care.

Or a 63-year-old woman in Arkansas who spent her career working and now serves as the sole caregiver for her husband with advanced cancer, who is unable to leave him to log the 80 hours a month the federal government will soon demand of her on top of the role she already plays, filling gaps in a system that was already threadbare before it was slashed.

Or a young mom who has been trying for years to find an answer for the rare disease that makes her periodically unable to walk, while struggling to hold down her retail job and care for her kids while waiting months to see specialists.

These are the faces of Medicaid, and this is who HR 1—the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act—and the cuts within it, will harm.

And now, with a new interim final rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the situation has gotten measurably worse by an administration going further than Congress intended, leaving states scrambling.

The public comment period on the interim final rule closes July 31, 2026. Make your voice heard today.

The Tradwife Fantasy Isn’t Replacing Feminism

PUBLISHED 6/22/2026 by

As conservative organizations are carefully curating messaging about femininity, marriage and traditional values, the data tells a different story: Feminism remains remarkably popular, especially among young women.

That reality stands in sharp contrast to the messaging on display at gatherings like Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit, held earlier this month in San Antonio, Texas—part of a growing strategy among conservative organizers to attract young women through lifestyle content rather than traditional political organizing. The “pink pill pipeline” is a pathway that introduces conservative politics through wellness culture, dating advice and discussions about traditional gender roles. 

Yet while anti-feminist rhetoric has gained visibility online, research continues to show that young women remain one of the strongest constituencies for feminism. 

Carré Otis Has Opened a Door for Survivors of Abuse in the Modeling Industry. Will Others Walk Through It?

PUBLISHED 6/16/2026 by

A new legal door opened earlier this month in the fight for survivor justice. But it’s not in the United States, where survivors and advocates continue to press for transparency and investigations into Jeffrey Epstein’s larger network and the modeling industry’s potential role in it. It’s in France.

Carré Otis, a U.S.-based former supermodel and board member of the Model Alliance, filed a criminal complaint in French court alleging rape of a minor and human trafficking by Gérald Marie, a former giant of the modeling industry who led Elite Model Management’s European operations from 1985 to 2010.

The complaint alleges that Otis was 17 when Elite sent her to Paris in 1986 and housed her in Gérald Marie’s apartment, where she “mistakenly believ[ed] that he wanted to support her modeling career.” While living there, Otis alleges that Marie raped her on multiple occasions and later arranged for her to be “provided to other wealthy men across Europe.” The complaint also says Otis was never paid for her modeling work.

Marie has denied Otis’ allegations, and because of France’s statute of limitations, cannot be criminally prosecuted for these particular allegations.

Still, Otis’ recent filing could prove consequential well beyond her own case.

The Untapped Power of Post-Menopausal Women

PUBLISHED 6/14/2026 by

Melinda French Gates announced last week a historic $215 million commitment to women’s health, including a $10 million gift to the Menopause Society. It is a beautiful and necessary act of generosity.

It arrives on the same day a new Mayo Clinic study showing hormone therapy use among menopausal women has dropped to a historic low of 1.7 percent—even as evidence of its safety has grown.

We are moving backward and forward at the same time.

French Gates put a spotlight on the fact that women’s health has been inexcusably underfunded. The questions to add to that conversation: What would medicine look like if it saw menopause not as nature’s mistake, but as evolution’s investment? What would our economy look like? What would our communities look like? What problems might we finally solve?

The science exists. The economic case is clear. And the legislative momentum is building. What is missing is the cultural shift that allows medicine, policy and society to see post-menopausal women not as a problem to manage, but as a resource we cannot afford to waste.

Meet the Anti-Fracking Nanas

PUBLISHED 6/7/2026 by

It was a balmy August morning in Lancashire, a county in North West England known for its sweeping landscapes and greenery. But back in 2014, their idyllic community was facing an outside threat: Cuadrilla, an oil and gas giant and the only company in the United Kingdom with a license to frack, was about to commence shale gas exploration. If the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, went ahead, then the site beneath the nanas’ feet would soon become an industrial wasteland—and the county’s residents would be forced to live with the consequences, unless someone was able to stop it.

The nanas clambered over fences, quickly putting up signs and wrangling tent poles. By 6 a.m., the first tent was up. The women sat on the ground, drinking tea and watching the sun rise above the field that would be their home for the next three weeks. Technically, they weren’t all grandmothers, but before long, this group of anti-fracking activists from Lancashire would be known as the Nanas, both at home and abroad. They’d regularly stage demonstrations, roadside tea parties, and eventually, even a protest outside Buckingham Palace.

And they wouldn’t be alone: In other communities being torn apart by fracking, older people around the world have also been taking the fight into their own hands, spending their golden years in protest. But what makes someone dedicate their later life to activism? To give up the dream of pottering around the garden, pushing grandchildren on swings and enjoying long vacations and their long-awaited retirement?

As it turns out, many of them felt they didn’t have a choice.

Who Cares for Aging America? Still, Overwhelmingly, Women

PUBLISHED 4/17/2026 by

Women continue to provide the majority—61 percent—of unpaid caregiving in this country. They are the appointment schedulers, medication managers, financial coordinators and emotional anchors. They are the ones who leave work early, rearrange schedules, and absorb the invisible labor that keeps older adults safe and supported.

Caregiving can be an act of profound love. It can strengthen bonds, preserve dignity and allow older adults to remain in the homes they cherish. But it can also take a toll.

Women who juggle caregiving alongside careers and parenting face higher risks of burnout, depression and chronic health conditions. The triple role of worker, mother and caregiver is not simply demanding—it is unsustainable without meaningful support.

We are on a demographic collision course in this country. Birth rates are falling, while the “Silver Tsunami” is rising. By 2030, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. This means fewer young people, more aging adults and a caregiving crisis that is already straining families and healthcare systems. We cannot build a sustainable care economy on invisible, unpaid labor. If we fail to modernize and invest in real care infrastructure, we will continue asking women to absorb a crisis that belongs to all of us.

Forget the ‘Manosphere’—The ‘Meno-Sphere’ Is the Voting Bloc With Real Power

PUBLISHED 4/7/2026 by and

A recent report from centrist think tank Third Way predicts many of the “swingy, moderate, low-propensity young men” who supported Trump will sit out the midterms this year.

So who should progressive political strategists and hopefuls turn their attention to? The oft-forgotten, invisible aging woman, or, what we like to call the meno-sphere.

There are many good reasons to prioritize the electoral and mobilization potential of women over 50. Back in 1992, The New York Times published a piece called “Mighty Menopause,” which posited that the then-rise of Baby Boomer women in politics was a direct result of hormonal shifts and that the “biological changes wrought by menopause” ultimately bolster women’s “interest in power and increase their ability to use it.”

If ever there were a moment to prove that to be true, it’s now—as our daughters’ and granddaughters’ rights are rolled back, as communities are terrorized, as the power elite’s willful alignment with the rot becomes clearer by the day.