What is the worst issue confronting middle aged women in 2024

[Anonymous]

Post-college I think of 21-30 as being young or young adult.

30-40 is early adult to regular adult, depending on context.

"Early career" could be any of the previous brackets depending on context and industry. I suppose you could even call people in their early 40s early career (some academics, medical, etc...) where you're surrounded by a lot of old-timers.

Middle age starts somewhere between 40-50 and goes until 60-65ish. You probably wouldn't call a 42 year old mom of a 1 and 3 year old middle aged, but you might call a 42 year old with teens who is a VP in a tech company middle-aged if they are surrounded by junior 20 somethings all day.

Senior begins at 65ish. Used to be around 60 but this feels too young now for most.

Elderly is really dependent on condition. My dad is 81 and in amazing shape and I get calling him elderly but he doesn't really present that way. My mom and my MIL are 73 and barely present as seniors in some ways, but yes, they are seniors. There are 66 year olds who have elderly needs and present as much older.

All of this is so context and life-stage dependent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that still, even in 2024, middle age is still culturally a kind of planned obsolescence for women. We still struggle to have the kind of cultural power that would give us a meaningful role in the world after we are past childbearing years.

I'm not saying individual women don't have power or meaning once they hit middle age -- obviously they do. Both at high levels (Angela Merkel) and low levels (my neighbor who runs a consulting business and is well-respected and successful). But the women who do this still have to fight against a strong cultural perception that women no longer matter once they are no longer the future mother to someone's kids (and yes I phrased it that way on purpose).

These old ideas about gender roles die hard.

+1. They die hard and we grow up with them so the internalized misogyny is hard to beat, even for confident happy women with high self esteem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being able to purchase the bottom half of the shirt.

In all seriousness, I think it's sandwich generation stuff... raising kids in a time where very hands-on parenting is the norm, often while working a full-time job, while juggling aging parents.

Also, marital division of labor issues in two working-parent families. Many women my age (40) were raised that they could do anything and that has turned into doing everything.

I don't think parents of young children quality as "middle aged" they are younger women with different issues.

If you are 40 are you not middle aged? I would like to think I will live to be 90 but that's not realistic.

Now 30-40 year old women with young kids are middle aged? When do you become a senior citizen? 45?

Young 0-30
Middle age: 31-59
Old: 60-dead

What do 31 and 59 year olds have in common? Pretty much nothing.

NP. So? What do babies and 29 year olds have in common? Although I would put middle age at 35-65.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Post-college I think of 21-30 as being young or young adult.

30-40 is early adult to regular adult, depending on context.

"Early career" could be any of the previous brackets depending on context and industry. I suppose you could even call people in their early 40s early career (some academics, medical, etc...) where you're surrounded by a lot of old-timers.

Middle age starts somewhere between 40-50 and goes until 60-65ish. You probably wouldn't call a 42 year old mom of a 1 and 3 year old middle aged, but you might call a 42 year old with teens who is a VP in a tech company middle-aged if they are surrounded by junior 20 somethings all day.

Senior begins at 65ish. Used to be around 60 but this feels too young now for most.

Elderly is really dependent on condition. My dad is 81 and in amazing shape and I get calling him elderly but he doesn't really present that way. My mom and my MIL are 73 and barely present as seniors in some ways, but yes, they are seniors. There are 66 year olds who have elderly needs and present as much older.

All of this is so context and life-stage dependent.

Agree- which is why I wouldn't put anything regarding child care for young children as "the worst issue confronting middle aged women". Some women who decided late in life to have kids might have this issue, but let's not pretend it's an issue for everyone else. That's not to minimize anyone's issues, but they belong in a different category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Post-college I think of 21-30 as being young or young adult.

30-40 is early adult to regular adult, depending on context.

"Early career" could be any of the previous brackets depending on context and industry. I suppose you could even call people in their early 40s early career (some academics, medical, etc...) where you're surrounded by a lot of old-timers.

Middle age starts somewhere between 40-50 and goes until 60-65ish. You probably wouldn't call a 42 year old mom of a 1 and 3 year old middle aged, but you might call a 42 year old with teens who is a VP in a tech company middle-aged if they are surrounded by junior 20 somethings all day.

Senior begins at 65ish. Used to be around 60 but this feels too young now for most.

Elderly is really dependent on condition. My dad is 81 and in amazing shape and I get calling him elderly but he doesn't really present that way. My mom and my MIL are 73 and barely present as seniors in some ways, but yes, they are seniors. There are 66 year olds who have elderly needs and present as much older.

All of this is so context and life-stage dependent.

I can see midlife being 40s but 50s and 60s? Are you planning to live to 100+?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being able to purchase the bottom half of the shirt.

In all seriousness, I think it's sandwich generation stuff... raising kids in a time where very hands-on parenting is the norm, often while working a full-time job, while juggling aging parents.

Also, marital division of labor issues in two working-parent families. Many women my age (40) were raised that they could do anything and that has turned into doing everything.

I don't think parents of young children quality as "middle aged" they are younger women with different issues.

If you are 40 are you not middle aged? I would like to think I will live to be 90 but that's not realistic.

Now 30-40 year old women with young kids are middle aged? When do you become a senior citizen? 45?

Young 0-30
Middle age: 31-59
Old: 60-dead

What do 31 and 59 year olds have in common? Pretty much nothing.

NP. So? What do babies and 29 year olds have in common? Although I would put middle age at 35-65.

Nothing. The categories above are something someone made up. At 35 you are not experiencing middle aged issues. It's cute that 35 year olds think they are so old now.

[Anonymous]

I sort of feel like middle-aged starts at 50, but at 46 I'm pretty much there already...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Post-college I think of 21-30 as being young or young adult.

30-40 is early adult to regular adult, depending on context.

"Early career" could be any of the previous brackets depending on context and industry. I suppose you could even call people in their early 40s early career (some academics, medical, etc...) where you're surrounded by a lot of old-timers.

Middle age starts somewhere between 40-50 and goes until 60-65ish. You probably wouldn't call a 42 year old mom of a 1 and 3 year old middle aged, but you might call a 42 year old with teens who is a VP in a tech company middle-aged if they are surrounded by junior 20 somethings all day.

Senior begins at 65ish. Used to be around 60 but this feels too young now for most.

Elderly is really dependent on condition. My dad is 81 and in amazing shape and I get calling him elderly but he doesn't really present that way. My mom and my MIL are 73 and barely present as seniors in some ways, but yes, they are seniors. There are 66 year olds who have elderly needs and present as much older.

All of this is so context and life-stage dependent.

I can see midlife being 40s but 50s and 60s? Are you planning to live to 100+?

If you get to be a "young person" for 30 years, there's no reason you don't get to be middle aged for at least 25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being able to purchase the bottom half of the shirt.

In all seriousness, I think it's sandwich generation stuff... raising kids in a time where very hands-on parenting is the norm, often while working a full-time job, while juggling aging parents.

Also, marital division of labor issues in two working-parent families. Many women my age (40) were raised that they could do anything and that has turned into doing everything.

I don't think parents of young children quality as "middle aged" they are younger women with different issues.

If you are 40 are you not middle aged? I would like to think I will live to be 90 but that's not realistic.

Now 30-40 year old women with young kids are middle aged? When do you become a senior citizen? 45?

Young 0-30
Middle age: 31-59
Old: 60-dead

What do 31 and 59 year olds have in common? Pretty much nothing.

NP. So? What do babies and 29 year olds have in common? Although I would put middle age at 35-65.

Nothing. The categories above are something someone made up. At 35 you are not experiencing middle aged issues. It's cute that 35 year olds think they are so old now.

I actually know a decent number of women experiencing perimenopause symptoms in their mid-late 30s. And at least 3 went into early menopause. It's a little surprising to me, actually. I wonder if it's to do with all the hormones and toxicity in air/water/food, like early puberty in girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Post-college I think of 21-30 as being young or young adult.

30-40 is early adult to regular adult, depending on context.

"Early career" could be any of the previous brackets depending on context and industry. I suppose you could even call people in their early 40s early career (some academics, medical, etc...) where you're surrounded by a lot of old-timers.

Middle age starts somewhere between 40-50 and goes until 60-65ish. You probably wouldn't call a 42 year old mom of a 1 and 3 year old middle aged, but you might call a 42 year old with teens who is a VP in a tech company middle-aged if they are surrounded by junior 20 somethings all day.

Senior begins at 65ish. Used to be around 60 but this feels too young now for most.

Elderly is really dependent on condition. My dad is 81 and in amazing shape and I get calling him elderly but he doesn't really present that way. My mom and my MIL are 73 and barely present as seniors in some ways, but yes, they are seniors. There are 66 year olds who have elderly needs and present as much older.

All of this is so context and life-stage dependent.

I can see midlife being 40s but 50s and 60s? Are you planning to live to 100+?

It's not literal.

Quarter-life crises are not at 19.
Mid-life crises are not at 37.5.
Right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think it’s the rise of misogyny as an overt political platform of both parties. Both parties are openly throwing themselves into misogyny as a winning electoral issue. It’s frankly terrifying.

What is the Dem misogyny?

The progressive wing of the party has leaned in hard on taking the side of using rape and sexual assault as a weapon of political terror. The refusal to unequivocally condemn the documented sexual violence from Hamas and the silence of progressive women’s organizations (which are all Democrat supporters) on the issue has been extremely demoralizing. I started 10/7 as someone who would have probably said that I am largely aligned with the Democratic progressives on issues related to Israel, but the horrific minimization from that wing of the party of the sexual torture endured by Israeli women and children has been profoundly shocking to me, and just part and parcel of the overall trend of using misogyny as a political platform.

The Democrats have also been leading the charge in eliminating sex-based protections and spaces for women and they seem to be openly pretending that women haven’t been terrorized for millennia because of their biology. This comes up in various contexts, including the self-ID laws that they’ve pushed, and the extreme misogynist reaction to women who point out safety issues for women’s prisons, women’s sports, and other hard-fought spaces of sanctuary for women. A lot of current gender ideology is rooted in extreme misogyny, and the Democrats have leaned in heavily on that.

My political allegiance for years has been to the party that supports women, because I believe that leads to better societies. But I have no home now. Obviously the Republicans are out. But now the Democrats are too. The Democrats seem to have seen how successful misogyny as a platform was for the Republicans and just adopted that approach.

[Anonymous]

Hating their husbands but not being financially able to support themselves and kids alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Post-college I think of 21-30 as being young or young adult.

30-40 is early adult to regular adult, depending on context.

"Early career" could be any of the previous brackets depending on context and industry. I suppose you could even call people in their early 40s early career (some academics, medical, etc...) where you're surrounded by a lot of old-timers.

Middle age starts somewhere between 40-50 and goes until 60-65ish. You probably wouldn't call a 42 year old mom of a 1 and 3 year old middle aged, but you might call a 42 year old with teens who is a VP in a tech company middle-aged if they are surrounded by junior 20 somethings all day.

Senior begins at 65ish. Used to be around 60 but this feels too young now for most.

Elderly is really dependent on condition. My dad is 81 and in amazing shape and I get calling him elderly but he doesn't really present that way. My mom and my MIL are 73 and barely present as seniors in some ways, but yes, they are seniors. There are 66 year olds who have elderly needs and present as much older.

All of this is so context and life-stage dependent.

I can see midlife being 40s but 50s and 60s? Are you planning to live to 100+?

It's not literal.

Quarter-life crises are not at 19.
Mid-life crises are not at 37.5.
Right?

Instead of insisting middle age is 35, why not offer up what you think is the "worst issue" for middle aged women? And let's hope it's not "affordable after care for kindergarteners".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being able to purchase the bottom half of the shirt.

In all seriousness, I think it's sandwich generation stuff... raising kids in a time where very hands-on parenting is the norm, often while working a full-time job, while juggling aging parents.

Also, marital division of labor issues in two working-parent families. Many women my age (40) were raised that they could do anything and that has turned into doing everything.

I don't think parents of young children quality as "middle aged" they are younger women with different issues.

If you are 40 are you not middle aged? I would like to think I will live to be 90 but that's not realistic.

Now 30-40 year old women with young kids are middle aged? When do you become a senior citizen? 45?

Young 0-30
Middle age: 31-59
Old: 60-dead

What do 31 and 59 year olds have in common? Pretty much nothing.

NP. So? What do babies and 29 year olds have in common? Although I would put middle age at 35-65.

Nothing. The categories above are something someone made up. At 35 you are not experiencing middle aged issues. It's cute that 35 year olds think they are so old now.

I actually know a decent number of women experiencing perimenopause symptoms in their mid-late 30s. And at least 3 went into early menopause. It's a little surprising to me, actually. I wonder if it's to do with all the hormones and toxicity in air/water/food, like early puberty in girls.

That can't be, everyone around here has their first kid after 35.

[Anonymous]

Once you hit your 50s?
Age discrimination in the workplace and employment. And taking care of elderly parents.