MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from  Creative Aging  (Vassiliadis & Romer) - Feminism and Creative Aging   Feminism is a word that sets some people’s teeth on edge (visions of bra-burning and man-hating fanatics flash into mind), but there’s really no other word that describes the revolution in attitudes toward women that took place in the 1970s. Feminism, like it or not, has had an enormous impact on aging Baby Boomers as they make life choices for the next span of their existence.   Feminism, defined, simply means the drive toward equality for women in all aspects of personal and professional life. We have not reached true equality—salaries, for instance, still are not equal between men and women—but compared to the households many Baby Boomers were raised in, things have definitely changed.   My mother, for example, did not have a job while my brother and I were growing up. She was there to greet us every day when we got home from school. A physical education teacher bef...

  Women live about five years longer than men in the U.S. (80.2 vs. 74.8), a pattern echoed across most countries and even across many mammal species. But longevity is only the starting point of the story. The deeper question is: What does this biological and behavioral gap mean for women as they age? Below is a structured, thoughtful post you can use as-is or adapt for your blog. 🌿 Why Women Live Longer — The Biological Core Across mammals, females tend to outlive males, and the pattern is remarkably consistent. Research shows: Female mammals live ~13% longer than males on average. In humans, women outlive men by about five years . This gap persists even when environmental stressors are removed, suggesting deep evolutionary roots . Two major biological factors drive this: 1. Chromosomal Protection Women have two X chromosomes , which provides a genetic “backup system” that can buffer harmful mutations. Men, with one X and one Y, lack this redundancy. This difference may contrib...