What is the worst issue confronting middle aged women in 2024

[Anonymous]

Other women

[Anonymous]

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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.

Your sense of reality is a little...off.

Where is she wrong?

Where is she right?

Start with the first sentence " taking the side of using rape and sexual assault as a weapon of political terror. "

Complete fiction.

She’s alluding to the (lack of) reaction of US left-wing press to the rape and sexual torture of women in Israel 10/7. It was astonishing that there was no outcry amongst womens’ organizations. (And on this website, the moderator spent some time denying the rape of the tattoo artist who was slain, which was surprising.)

None of that is " taking the side of using rape and sexual assault as a weapon of political terror. "

Seems to be exactly that to me.

So then your sense of reality is off. The Ds aren’t taking the side of Hamas. Or rape/sexual assault.

You know, no matter how much you stomp your feet and insist you can control the thoughts of all women, you cannot do so. Admittedly, this does seem to a lesson Democrats in general are learning slowly, so you have company.

LOL. I certainly do NOT control the thoughts of anyone but myself.

PP shared her thoughts. And I’m simply observing that PP is disconnected from reality. She will believe whatever craziness she wants to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Menopause

Yes, particularly my menopausal gut

[Anonymous]

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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.

Your sense of reality is a little...off.

Where is she wrong?

Where is she right?

Start with the first sentence " taking the side of using rape and sexual assault as a weapon of political terror. "

Complete fiction.

She’s alluding to the (lack of) reaction of US left-wing press to the rape and sexual torture of women in Israel 10/7. It was astonishing that there was no outcry amongst womens’ organizations. (And on this website, the moderator spent some time denying the rape of the tattoo artist who was slain, which was surprising.)

None of that is " taking the side of using rape and sexual assault as a weapon of political terror. "

Seems to be exactly that to me.

So then your sense of reality is off. The Ds aren’t taking the side of Hamas. Or rape/sexual assault.

You know, no matter how much you stomp your feet and insist you can control the thoughts of all women, you cannot do so. Admittedly, this does seem to a lesson Democrats in general are learning slowly, so you have company.

LOL. I certainly do NOT control the thoughts of anyone but myself.

PP shared her thoughts. And I’m simply observing that PP is disconnected from reality. She will believe whatever craziness she wants to believe.

I suspect there many women who would observe that you are the one profoundly disconnected with reality. It’s interesting that you position yourself as arbitrator of all reality; that itself seems wholly delusional.

[Anonymous]

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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.

This

You need to get off social media.

This response is exemplary of the increase in open misogyny from the left, particularly progressives. “Social media” doesn’t change underlying facts. You believe women can’t look around them and disagree with the orthodoxy of the progressive left on their own. You believe that women cannot look critically at some of the positions advocated by the left and reach a conclusion that disagrees with those positions. In essence, you don’t believe women can think on their own, that women are capable of independent thought outside of approved groupthink. And when faced with women who reject progressive orthodoxy, your response is to lash out and to take the position that women who disagree with progressive heterodoxy must be brainwashed by social media, influenced by Fox News (that none of us watch), or otherwise be incapable of reaching a single conflicting conclusion on our own.

And then you wonder why women, many women, see and fear a rise of misogyny as a political platform from the Democrats as well as the Republicans? You don’t even think women are capable of independent thought.

DP. I’d say men are far worse at believing the disinformation floating around social media. But women aren’t immune.

PP is correct. Get off social media.

Yep. These PPs think some little set of extreme but loud voices on social media = the Dem party. Or confuse misinformation planted out there by the right as = a Dem agenda. The lack of critical thinking and ignorance is staggering.

Get off social media and talk to real people. Real people I know who are Dems are not radical progressives. They do not diminish the events of 10/7 or diminish any sexual violence for that matter. They do not espouse misogyny.

Some women think just fine for themselves, but there are certainly some who have lost their wave in the maze of disinformation on social media.

It’s remarkable how you have to classify disagreement as the pernicious influence of social media because you cannot permit a woman the freedom to have her own independent thought. This is itself a profoundly misogynistic position and only serves to prove the point that progressive Democrats are embracing misogyny as a party platform.

Also, you are wrong. Demanding the end of sex-based sports, prison, awards, and other historic (and hard-earned) spaces for girls and women is indeed espousing misogyny. We can all see and read the statutes passed and the positions taken by elected Democrats. And we can also see what was said (or more importantly, not said) in response to 10/7.

Please stop with your Orwellian nonsense.

What does being a woman have to do with believing RWNJ propaganda? You don't get a pass to believe stupid crap just because you have a vagina.

I’m just going to leave this exchange here. I don’t think I could have come up with a better example of the casual embrace of misogyny by Democrats if I tried. Thank you for being an object lesson.

As the original point said, and our Democrat apparatchik friend here is neatly demonstrating, one major problem middle-aged women face is the widespread embrace of misogyny as part of the political direction and ethos of both major political parties.

Despite the big words in this blathering post, trying to look SUPER duper smart, I don't think you understand what misogyny is. And I mean that seriously.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:White middle aged women are sandwiched in their family life between their children and their parents, but also in their professional life, between the patriarchy and DEI. We're everyone's caretaker, but also everyone's bad guy, and no matter how hard we work, in every aspect of our lives, we're never a priority for promotion.

White women are never a priority? What?

Who prioritizes white women, beyond putting an idealized version of one on a pedestal as a beauty standard (that almost no actual white women live up to)?

I don't think white women have it as bad as people who aren't white but I don't think white women have it good either*. And we are at this weird juncture where white women are not allowed to complain about ways in which they are oppressed, or even point them out, because of a desire to boil white women down to their whiteness only (it's like the the opposite of intersectionalism). Also, this movement to hold white women accountable for their privilege and racism? It's been most embraced by white men. I wonder why....

*I know that people will say "wtf I know white women who have it good" and I do too but every single of one of them has it so good because of the support/protection of a white man. And that doesn't mean all white women married to or the children of white men have it good either, because most white men don't protect/support the white women in their lives -- they ignore, use, resent, or abuse them. And even many of the white men who offer protection/support do so for selfish reasons (think Donald Trump and Ivanka) because they view the white women in they orbit as assets and reflections of their own glory.

Being a white woman is not some joyous experience. It's a glass prison.

Try being a middle aged black woman.

No one said this wasn't harder. Just pointing out that being a middle aged white woman is not the prize people seem to think it is. Having it easier than a black woman is not the same as "having it easy."

Who has it easy?

Is it a contest? Both can be true.

[Anonymous]

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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.

This

You need to get off social media.

This response is exemplary of the increase in open misogyny from the left, particularly progressives. “Social media” doesn’t change underlying facts. You believe women can’t look around them and disagree with the orthodoxy of the progressive left on their own. You believe that women cannot look critically at some of the positions advocated by the left and reach a conclusion that disagrees with those positions. In essence, you don’t believe women can think on their own, that women are capable of independent thought outside of approved groupthink. And when faced with women who reject progressive orthodoxy, your response is to lash out and to take the position that women who disagree with progressive heterodoxy must be brainwashed by social media, influenced by Fox News (that none of us watch), or otherwise be incapable of reaching a single conflicting conclusion on our own.

And then you wonder why women, many women, see and fear a rise of misogyny as a political platform from the Democrats as well as the Republicans? You don’t even think women are capable of independent thought.

DP. I’d say men are far worse at believing the disinformation floating around social media. But women aren’t immune.

PP is correct. Get off social media.

Yep. These PPs think some little set of extreme but loud voices on social media = the Dem party. Or confuse misinformation planted out there by the right as = a Dem agenda. The lack of critical thinking and ignorance is staggering.

Get off social media and talk to real people. Real people I know who are Dems are not radical progressives. They do not diminish the events of 10/7 or diminish any sexual violence for that matter. They do not espouse misogyny.

Some women think just fine for themselves, but there are certainly some who have lost their wave in the maze of disinformation on social media.

It’s remarkable how you have to classify disagreement as the pernicious influence of social media because you cannot permit a woman the freedom to have her own independent thought. This is itself a profoundly misogynistic position and only serves to prove the point that progressive Democrats are embracing misogyny as a party platform.

Also, you are wrong. Demanding the end of sex-based sports, prison, awards, and other historic (and hard-earned) spaces for girls and women is indeed espousing misogyny. We can all see and read the statutes passed and the positions taken by elected Democrats. And we can also see what was said (or more importantly, not said) in response to 10/7.

Please stop with your Orwellian nonsense.

What does being a woman have to do with believing RWNJ propaganda? You don't get a pass to believe stupid crap just because you have a vagina.

I’m just going to leave this exchange here. I don’t think I could have come up with a better example of the casual embrace of misogyny by Democrats if I tried. Thank you for being an object lesson.

As the original point said, and our Democrat apparatchik friend here is neatly demonstrating, one major problem middle-aged women face is the widespread embrace of misogyny as part of the political direction and ethos of both major political parties.

Despite the big words in this blathering post, trying to look SUPER duper smart, I don't think you understand what misogyny is. And I mean that seriously.

Embarrassingly enough for you, there are no particularly big words in that post. I understand that this is all above your head, though. That is indeed clear.

[Anonymous]

Being invisible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting divorced and realizing just how hard the dating world can be as an older woman, looking ahead at working until the day you die, realizing you might have listened to some bad advice from your single girlfriends about how great it is "out there", and quietly feeling incredibly scared about it all but acting like everything is totally awesome on the surface when the hard truth is that no one is coming along on the horizon to save you, the job market is getting more shaky as you get older, and you don't have nearly enough saved for retirement.

I would think that would be the biggest fear?

Yeah, it's not great out there if you are over 40. I'd even say late 30s even.

I'm in my late 40s and dating has always been fun. When it's not fun, I stop doing it.
If you're dating for the purpose of someone "saving" you, yeah, it's probably going to suck.

[Anonymous]

It’s the same today as it has always been:

1. Equal pay that equips a woman to support herself and her family.

2. Affordable housing.

3. Affordable, high quality healthcare.

If all women had those 3 things, everything would be peachy keen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weird health issues that are more common because of unknown reasons (microplastics? pesticides? who knows!), and the medical community isn't taking our issues seriously.

Such as?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other women

Republican women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other women

+1

Other women throwing themselves at my DH

[Anonymous]

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.

This. Especially “ Many women my age (40) were raised that they could do anything and that has turned into doing everything.”

this. I could do anything but I feel horrible because I only do 10% of what people expect me to do, I do a bad job at most things and am completely exhausted.

It could be way worse but we are told we are never, ever good enough. And we have 6 effective jobs whereas we used to just have 1. We are expected to do 2x more than peopel in the 50s at a job, and always be working. Parenting is twice as hard, we manage elders and our kids and both are much more complex than they used to be.

I realize I have 3x more money than I realistically need in any way but I am a debtor -- I have so much time debt that I feel miserable all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weird health issues that are more common because of unknown reasons (microplastics? pesticides? who knows!), and the medical community isn't taking our issues seriously.

Such as?

NP. ME-CFS, long Covid, chemical sensitivities, endometriosis, chronic Lyme, etc. I just read Doing Harm by Maya Dusenberry and it was eye opening.