Ebook: Women over forty : visions and realities

Older women are here to stay. In fact, there are, and will be, more of them
each succeeding decade. However, the literature on women has singularly
failed to focus on t~e unique life experiences of the woman over 40.
Literature in gerontology has been equally remiss in failing to examine the
problems of older women as distinct from those encountered by aging
men. Traditional approaches to gerontology have examined primarily
those issues of aging pertinent to men while neglecting the issues specific
to women. Yet because of their increased longevity, most older people are
women. There are more than 12.8 million women in the United States
aged 65 or older, and an additional 22 million women in the middle-aged
population (ages 45-64). Together, these women comprise 16 percent of
this country's inhabitants.