Women over fifty

In the magnificent novel Instructions for living without her, by Empar Moliner, the narrator explaining Claudia Pruna's story contrasts her husband's low energy with Pruna's productivity: “Perhaps this is the real difference between men and women. Women, past fifty, want to do a lot of things. They have energy, they laugh, they wet themselves laughing. Men lose it all and some never laugh again. It's like a transfer.”

Making the leap from fiction to a more prosaic reality, the observation fits what we see in book clubs, book presentations, conferences on the most diverse topics, university extension classrooms, subscriber meetings, all kinds of courses, and workshops on anything. Creative writing, languages, photography, ceramics, painting, graphology, jewelry design, or tarot. Women are the vast majority. Also occupying seats in theaters and cinemas, especially if there's a dialogue with the actors or a film discussion at the end of the movie. In discussion groups, philosophical cafés, and spiritual retreats. On morning walks and Nordic walking outings promoted by hiking clubs. In spinning, zumba, body pump, or body combat. In the swimming pools, during aquagym, and stretching the springs of the reformer in Pilates centers. In biodanza, conscious movement, Tai Chi, or Qi Gong sessions. In hot yoga, Bikram yoga, barre, aerial silks, Gyrotonic, Body Balance, or sound healing classes. In gospel choirs and volunteer spaces.

Various European studies on aging show that women over fifty years of age present higher levels of participation in social, cultural, and educational activities than men. This is often interpreted as a result of very differentiated life trajectories: after accumulating caregiving roles, women may experience a liberation that entails a need to reclaim their time. Many men, on the other hand, have consolidated routines and do not need anything more. Gerontology experts highlight that female aging can become a moment of personal redefinition, expansion, and autonomy. It is as if women were arriving late to their own lives and this energy that emerges is the fruit of inertia accumulated over the years, of an aspiration that can finally come true. It is time to learn all those things they felt they had left pending, to try what sparked their curiosity, or simply to make the most of the time they have left. In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of human needs. At the top of the pyramid, he placed the stage of self-actualization, which often coincides with a moment of certain maturity and is theoretically reached when all previous levels have been completed. It is a period characterized by a motivation for personal growth, a need to be. Of course, over the years, this theory has received criticism and amendments due to various biases, especially gender-related ones. But this stage of self-actualization that he described has been observed to have a greater incidence in women. However, beyond what studies say, it is an empirical matter. Meanwhile, marketing and the invaluable pressure of social media continue to address women over fifty as a group concerned about wrinkles, belly fat, or weight, pushing supplements, creams, ointments, and injections onto them. But their intellectual and collaborative potential is underestimated. Administration, institutions, and companies do not take into account the full cultural, economic, social, and revitalizing asset of all these women over fifty, who are many and, as the novel says, want to do a lot of things.