Somebody protect Jane Fonda.
asserted
Somebody → protect → Fonda
I’m joking, but I’m not.
asserted
I → joke → ?
I’m not, because after losing Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem in the same week, I’m not ready to mourn another badass old lady.
asserted
I → ’m → lady
I am, because Fonda has never needed anyone’s help.
asserted
Fonda → need → help
Also, she’s 88 and not afraid of it.
asserted
she → ’ → it
On Thursday, she paid tribute to Steinem, then criticized tech billionaires for being woman-hating weirdos who “want to live forever, while killing the rest of us.”
asserted
who → pay → us
Wise old women accept their time on Earth is limited, and make the most of it.
asserted
time → accept → it
They’re not insulted to be called “old,” because they know every year is a privilege and a gift.
asserted
year → insult → ?
As the role models of my youth fade away, the way to honour them is to let my youth fade, too.
asserted
youth → fade → them
The space they created needs to stay filled.
asserted
they → create → ?
This is an invitation to all the girls with big mouths, big hearts and grey hairs — whether dyed, wigged or flying free — to step into it.
asserted
This → dye → it
It’s always been a critical role, and now we live in an era that is purposefully historically obtuse.
asserted
that → live → era
Vaccine-preventable diseases are resurging as those who witnessed the suffering caused by measles and polio pass on.
asserted
who → resurge → measles
Rigid gender roles are being romanticized as the people that they trapped, stifled and harmed leave us, too.
asserted
they → romanticize → us
Whether residential school denialism in Canada or the diminishment of slavery in American schoolbooks, there’s a concerted effort to pretend every fight for human dignity is new.
asserted
fight → ’ → dignity
This essential context is one big reason the loss of elders, famous and otherwise, hurts.
asserted
loss → hurt → elders
Our feminist foremothers knew their history and worked to change the future.
asserted
foremothers → know → future
Parton came from rural poverty, and helped thousands of children learn to read.
asserted
thousands → come → children
Steinem had an illegal abortion, then won, then lost and kept fighting for reproductive justice.
asserted
Steinem → have → justice
Stó:lō author Lee Maracle, who died in 2021, created space for generations of Indigenous writers whose ancestors’ stories were buried.
asserted
stories → die → writers
Toni Morrison, who died in 2019, nurtured a similar lineage in Black literature.
asserted
who → die → literature
Jane Goodall, who died last year, protected ecosystems and non-human animals even as misinformation began to poison our collective memory of a stable, healthy planet.
asserted
misinformation → die → planet
They were tough old broads who showed us how to survive tough times, stand up for others and dismiss fools as needed.
asserted
who → show → fools
These are high heels to step into.
asserted
These → step → ?
But another trick up their sequined sleeves was that they often made it look really fun.
asserted
it → make → sleeves
It’s important not to forget that.
asserted
It → ’ → that
Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to see grey-haired heads having a good time.
asserted
heads → ’ → time
Middle-aged and genuinely old women are increasingly visible — like Fonda, who spent seven seasons alongside Lily Tomlin on “Grace and Frankie” being 70ish, silly and sexy, simultaneously celebrating wrinkles and good face cream.
asserted
who → spend → wrinkles
In 2019, she was nominated for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series.
asserted
she → nominate → series
That same year, she was arrested at demonstrations for climate action — five times.
asserted
she → arrest → action
Madonna, 68, has a very good new house album and the ability to make a knee sleeve look kinda cool.
asserted
sleeve → have → album
Kristin Scott Thomas, 66, rocks a deadly wardrobe, a lack of face fillers and ice in her veins on the spy series “Slow Horses.”
asserted
Thomas → rock → series
If spies are your thing, the two “Killers of a Certain Age” novels are a fast-paced send-up of old women’s legendary invisibility, which the protagonists employ to be effective assassins.
asserted
protagonists → pace → which
It’s a great time to be a badass old lady.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
So squeeze on that estrogen gel, grab some stylish yet comfortable sneakers and get a T-shirt that says “I Can’t Believe We Still Have to Protest This Sh*t.”
asserted
We → squeeze → Sh*t
Unfortunately, we do.
asserted
we → do → ?
Fortunately, righteous anger has long been good fuel for a great party, no matter how many decades you have under your belt.
asserted
you → have → belt
Olivia Rodrigo just held a concert that raised $20 million for maternal health, domestic violence and reproductive justice.
asserted
that → hold → health
We all have to pick up the weight our elders need to put down.
asserted
elders → have → weight
Yes, it’s already 9 p.m. but the more joint pain you have, the more important it is to dance like no one is watching — because actually, they are.
asserted
they → ’ → pain
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
