INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

As the audience for my book are older women, it seems appropriate to dedicate this blog to women in honour of International Women’s day and, of course, to all Hags out there! International Women’s Day has been celebrated for well over a century with the first gathering held in 1911 and the theme for this year is to choose a challenge.

My invitation to all Hags is to take up the challenge and become a role model for the next generation of older women. The endeavours of older women so often go unnoticed and possibly even taken for granted. In a self-effacing way, women often get on with what they do without recognising that they are often the glue that holds their families and communities together.

History is peppered with older men and women who go on to achieve their best works in later life. A number of artists come to mind such as Michael Angelo and Picasso. Whether you are a Royalist or not, we have to acknowledge and give recognition to the Queen for carrying out her duties with single-minded commitment and without wavering for so many years.

The research for my book, H.A.G.S. with Attitude: A philosophy for aging, brought me in contact with so many role models of what it is like to age with vigour and a passion for life. We will all have our own list of women we see as role models and I also want to encourage each and every one of you to recognise that you too are a role model for the younger generation.

I want to single out one particular woman I believe to be a great inspiration to all of us. She is Tricia Cusden of Look Fabulous Forever. At 65, when most of us seriously consider retirement, she started her makeup company specifically for older women.

Despite being ridiculed and told there was not a market for her products, she silenced all the critics and now at 73, together with her two daughters, run a very successful company who sells their products throughout the world. Furthermore, she has no intention of retiring just yet.

I am a passionate believer that each one of us owe it to the next generation to challenge the erroneous assumptions about life as we get older and to be role models of the lived experience of many older people. I therefore encourage you to take up the theme of selecting a challenge and step up to becoming a role model for the next generation.

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