Old Style - Updated

Update: I weighed in on gender, after all. I'm tired of the same old same old double-standard and Feminists being blamed for the problem of Patriarchal violence against the rest of us.

Look, I really want to be able to quote Bette Davis, "Gettin' old ain't for sissies", because I think given our progress on recognizing gender as a patriarchal construct, we should be able to agree that "sissy" just means "lily-livered", and therefore can be applied to anyone with a liver who shrinks from the tough stuff.

Otherwise, I almost never weigh in on the politics of gender because I'm waiting until transmen demand to compete in men's sports.

Or demand anything, now that I've weighed in to make what I think is a fairly salient yet consistently overlooked point about who presents the real danger to transwomen in our society.

Hint: It's not lesbians. And it's certainly not Feminists - of any wave. So sod off with your firings and cancelings, trans activists, and repeat after me: The problem is the Patriarchy and its perpetration of male violence against women. Period. End of.

This morning I read about death cafes and then watched an inspiring video about "Fabulous Fashionistas", a handful of octogenarians - all women, so sorry, fellas - who are keeping fit and current, rockin' cool threads - including thrift shop finds - and just generally making older age seem less daunting to the rest of us.

Not a sissy in the lot, they're pretty much made of the tough stuff, so no shrinking from it for them.

I want to emulate their good example but I've a ways to go I'm afraid. Still, one foot in front of the other. I don't want my adult children dreading getting old - or any younger person dreading getting old - so my goal is to make my own aging look like the adventure it actually is, sucking up the daunting bits, revelling in the bonuses.

I plan to blog a lot, including a book, "Memories of Me", in which I'll jot down this and that along the way. It's a reinvention I'm after, a sloughing off of roles I've outgrown, opinions I want to let go of, an opening up to let the universe in - a third act. I'd like to do it without taking on paid work, which I've never much cared for, but I do want to be a "helper" as Mister Rogers would say.

I guess I can pass a police check?

So we'll see you around these parts. Stay hydrated and take the stairs.