With the launch of this website we are celebrating the new home for Women in Second Adulthood along with the publication of my new book: FIFTY IS THE NEW FIFTY: 10 LIFE LESSONS FOR WOMEN IN SECOND ADULTHOOD. In my books, I have collected anecdotes, insights, and wisdom from women at a new frontier of self-discovery; their stories, along with front-line scientific research and understanding from those professionals who are monitoring our journey, offer practical guidelines for all of us. On this website we can do the same among ourselves.

We are the first generation of women to experience this second chance at growing-up; after decades of living prescribed roles, each of us is finding her own voice and writing her own script. We – more than 37 million of us – are building the personal drive and political clout to make changes in society as we invent the rest of our own lives.

Many of us became aware of this new stage when we confronted a 50th birthday and the question “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?” As we answered that question for ourselves we discovered what is new about 50 – and 60 and 70. That is why 50 is not the new 30. In many important ways it is better than earlier ages – we feel braver, smarter and more confident – and most women I have met do not want to go back to the lives they lived when they were younger.

That is the way it has been for me. Although I had reported on women’s lives throughout most of my first adulthood, as I reached midlife for the first time I needed to understand what was going on in my own life. I was the one wondering if I was crazy and if I was the only one shaking things up. As I talked to other women I was reassured and energized by our shared experience. For example, the realization that we no longer care so much about what other people think about our behavior or ideas. As long as they feel right to us. And the exhilaration of hearing yourself say “NO” loud and clear without the world falling apart.

Since then I have written two books about us. But, the more we live, the more we discover and the more there is to say. Where better to continue the conversation than right here where we can talk directly to each other?

We’ve added some new features to the site, a newsletter and more changes are coming. We hope you find the site a welcoming, comfortable place to call ‘home’, bring friends, tell your stories and add to our collective wisdom and about the discoveries of our generation

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To celebrate Gloria’s 75th Birthday and to honor her unique and transformational work as an organizer and activist in the women’s and broader social justice movements, the Ms. Foundation for Women, Inc. has established The Gloria Steinem Fund for Organizing.

Gloria has traveled the United States and the world, for more than 30 years, igniting powerful new connections between women across race and class that have inspired so many to discover and let loose their own rebellious, activist selves.

“Once I began to listen to my own authentic voice – or at least to
realize I had one – I discovered a new answer to my earlier
rhetorical question: How much more rebellious could I get?
The answer was: A lot.” — Gloria Steinem

Seizing on the moment of opportunity now present for change in our country, The Gloria Steinem Fund for Organizing at the Ms. Foundation for Women will propel women’s leadership and solutions forward quickly and boldly. As Gloria says, “The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day, and at this moment in the life of our nation and the world, there truly is no day like today to take action.”

The Fund will focus on opportunities to achieve policy wins at national, state and local levels and to shape our culture in ways that make a real difference in the lives of women and girls, and their families and communities. The new Fund will support communications activities that respond quickly and speak strongly on the urgent issues – from health care to immigration to economic recovery – that the nation is now turning to address.

To encourage each of us to contribute to the cause of simple justice, the foundation has established Outrageous Acts, a social networking, social change campaign that invites everyone to engage in, celebrate, and support acts in the cause of simple justice on behalf of women, families and communities.

Get started at:
 www.outrageousacts.org.

For information on the Ms. Foundation for Women, Inc. visit:
www.ms.foundation.org

For my birthday this month my husband and a dear friend orchestrated the evening I really wanted – even though they would have preferred doing something a bit more elaborate. At my request, each of the ten guests brought a dish they had cooked, and I basked in the intimacy of the group. Here were my two darling children, now both in their twenties and able to understand what we have all been through as a family (like any family). And my husband, with whom I have finally achieved a kind of wonderful equilibrium; when I told someone that recently, he asked me how long it had taken. “About 37 years,” I replied. There were also a very few chosen friends, of twenty or more years. But also there was one new – or prospective – friend, someone I have a strong feeling is very special and want to get to know better. A few others I wished could be there were away – on adventures of their own, as it should be.

A few days later, I spent a week with my 90-year-old mother – who doesn’t look a day over 70 (the age at which she began studying for her Ph.D., which she completed in her early 80s, while holding a fulltime job). She is “losing it” now but is still eager to go places and do things. In fact the loss of short term memory seems to make the world that much more full of surprises and wonder for her. Not a bad model for longevity.

I am looking forward to getting started on the new book, on enjoying my revitalized marriage, watching my children “turn out” and to sharing what comes to my friends.

So why don’t I want to tell you my age? Not because of what the number means to me, but because of what I think it means to you.

I’m especially thinking of the readers of MORE Magazine, where I am a proud to be a contributing editor, who may be reading this. The magazine is for “women over 40” which we all accept as a way of saying “older” but not “old old” – the age my mother is. But where is the cross-over point? I am afraid that when you find out what birthday I have just celebrated, you will dismiss my ideas and my enthusiasm for this new stage of life, that by telling you my age I will become “other” in your mind.

That is why I have held off telling you what birthday I celebrated. I wanted you to get to know something about my life and my state of mind first, to enter into conversation with me as you read – “Yes, I know what she means” or “for me it is this way…” I wanted you to see me for who I am before you jumped to any conclusions about me.

Of course that is precisely why I should admit my age – to help demystify the arbitrary cut-off established by the Social Security Administration that I too used to see as separating one group off from the rest of society. I love where I am in my life – all sixty-five years of it so far!