How Sexagenarian Women are Fighting Back

Please don’t get me started on how ageism and even sexism is rife as a sexagenarian woman. I feel as a woman in her sixties, commonly referred to as a senior or an elderly woman, that we are constantly up against the odds. We are judged very harshly in all aspects of our life, from our appearance, to our lack of technology skills, and to our usefulness in society. We are often overlooked due to our age and gender.

However, I have been increasingly seeing changes in women of my age. Many of we sexagenarians are fighting back and decided that we won’t be categorised as “too old” and “past our use by date”. We are fighting off the effects of ageing by hitting the gym, learning new skills and solo travelling to foreign countries.

How Society Perceives Sexagenarian Women

There is a lot of disparity between how society perceives sexagenarian women compared to sexagenarian men. Whilst men maybe be considered wiser, more experienced and authoritative. Women are often considered to be weaker, slow-witted, doddery and are often portrayed as grandmotherly stereotypes.

I find increasingly that women over the age of sixty often suffer from a lack of voice and visibility. This is partly due to the media portrayal of older women by fostering stereotyping and gendered ageism. Our advice and opinions are often overlooked and considered to be outdated.

These are some of the common misconceptions about sexagenarian women:

• We are doddery old grandmothers
• We have little left to offer in the workplace
• We lack technology skills
• Our bodies are failing us and we are becoming physically weak
• We’re losing our marbles and our memories are lagging
• We are no longer considered to be sexual or desirable
• We lack business or financial knowledge
• We’re happy living a mundane existence
• We have little to offer in interesting conversations
• We are sometimes portrayed as being bitter and nasty

Disparity in Healthcare in Older Women

I often hear stories from older women who visit their GPs on a regular basis because they’re feeling unwell or have some new ache or pain. These visits are often dismissed as “it’s just your age” or “it’s ongoing menopausal issues”. Yes, our bodies are depleted of hormones and we do lose bone density, muscle tone and our joints are not as flexible as they used to be. But, surely some of these issues are preventable or treatable.

However, medical research on older women’s health has long been neglected. Most medical professionals were trained on centuries old medical research and trials carried out on men. Current medical studies show that many chronic diseases including heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, osteoporosis, and arthritis develop and present differently in women compared to men.

Basically, women over the age of fifty that are post-menopausal are being ignored by the medical fraternity, despite the fact that we live one third of our lives as post-menopausal. While men generally die at younger ages, they spend a higher percentage of their lives in good health. In contrast, older women live longer but experience higher rates of long-term disability, frailty, and poor health. So where is the fairness in this? Why do older women have to spend their golden years in poor health?

Should Sexagenarian Women Take HRT

The other fallacy surrounding women’s health after menopause is that taking HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) can contribute to breast cancer. When I went through menopause I took HRT short term because I was desperate. I suffered so much with the symptoms including hot flashes, sleeplessness, loss of libido and mood swings. The HRT worked like a charm. However, being made aware of the risk of breast cancer, I foolishly stopped taking it and experimented with natural remedies.

However, now it’s not regarded as a big risk factor anymore. In fact it has been discovered that the benefits of using HRT, such as improved quality of life and protection of bone health, outweigh the risks.

Furthermore the Women’s Health Initiative found that starting hormone therapy before 60 (or within 10 years of menopause) is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular death and first heart attack.

I am one, amongst many women of my age, that are concerned about the long-term risks associated with low levels of hormones that occur following menopause. These include the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, as well as diabetes, dementia and depression. These are all valid reasons for wanting to take HRT at this point in your life as a sexagenarian woman. But always discuss this option with your GP.

Sexagenarian Women are Making a Difference

I believe that there is now a whole new belief system surrounding sexagenarian women and how we’re wanting to age better. We are now going to our GPs and asking more pertinent questions about our health and what we can do without the need for medication. We’re not afraid to seek alternate methods and opinions on our health and longevity. Some of us are doing our own research and learning new techniques to ward off the signs of ageing that we have discovered are somewhat preventable.

I watched an interesting documentary a few weeks ago on older women that were attending a Bone Clinic for osteoporosis. It appears that bone health is one area that the medical fraternity are taking seriously. Their research showed that if women do two sessions of 30 minutes per week, of weight-bearing exercise they can improve their bone density. Weight-bearing exercises include: Lifting weights, using resistance bands, balancing on one leg, running or brisk walking, and reformer pilates.

But we can also do a lot more with our diets, our stress management, sleep quality and social connectedness. There are lots of resources available around us that can assist with learning how to eat nutritiously, manage a healthy weight, or to quit drinking and smoking. Many of we women are also looking at different ways of reducing stress in our lives by taking up yoga or meditation classes, engaging in relaxing activities like art classes or pottery, or simply by spending time walking in nature.

Lots of my sexagenarian or septuagenarian girlfriends have become extremely social and get together with like-minded people on a regular basis. These social activities may include: lunches out, going to the theatre or cinema, playing cards or board games, discussion groups, volunteering for charities, taking up new hobbies or learning a new language.

My Own Personal Story on How I’m Managing my Health

I am currently in my late sixties, but don’t feel it. You might even say that I’m completely in denial about ageing. I am very strong and determined in almost every facet of my life, and I pretty much never say die! I don’t want to give into the mindset of becoming old.

Naturally, I have noticed that I’ve slowed down a bit and that my body isn’t as toned or supple as it used to be. My eyesight has deteriorated and I can’t see any fine print at all without my reading glasses. I have some stiffness in my joints at times. I do stupid things once in a while and yes I’m also forgetful.

I don’t subscribe to being a gym junkie or fitness fanatic by belting myself at the gym every day or running marathons. I also don’t adhere to a really strict diet, but I make sure I eat good healthy food and try to keep it balanced. I have cut out most cow’s milk products, because I’m intolerant, but still eat cheese occasionally. I also don’t eat much in the way of processed foods. Otherwise, I love to eat lots of fresh foods including vegetables, fruit, lean meat, fish and seafood. My ethos has been to follow a Mediterranean diet mostly.

A few years ago I decided to take a wholistic approach to my health and started making small changes to my diet, reducing my alcohol intake and also changes to my exercise regime. I was finding that my weight was creeping up on me and that it affected my fitness and ability to get up off the floor. When my grandchildren were little, this became very important to me – that I was able to get down on the floor with them and then get up unaided.

Because of my weight, my hips were suffering and I had nerve pain (sciatica) down my legs most nights in bed. I ended up having a cortisone injection into one of my hips and it resolved it instantly. I was also suffering from lower back pain occasionally that was debilitating. I decided I had to do something more to alleviate these problems. So I returned to reformer pilates classes to regain some strength and flexibility.

This has worked like a charm. Since doing this I don’t suffer from either hip or lower back pain anymore. I can also get up off the floor reasonably easily without having to use a chair or coffee table to assist me. It has been life changing for me.

Why Having a Health/Fitness Assessment is Important

If you don’t know where to start with regaining your health and fitness, a good place to start is having a health and fitness assessment. I recently went along to a local gym and was tested by a qualified fitness instructor. However, you can probably also be assessed by a Physiologist or Physiotherapist.

After an initial interview about my health and querying whether I have any concerns with my body, the fitness instructor did the following tests:
– Resting heart rate
– Resting blood pressure
– Anthropometric measurements – height, weight, body measurements and skin-fold test.
– Cardio respiratory fitness
– Flexibility
– Strength

These tests are your benchmark and gives the instructor an idea on areas that need to be worked on and improved. In my case, my weight, some flexibility and strength are areas that I could definitely enhance. From these results the fitness instructor will formulate a gym workout program tailored to my personal goals.

Last Words for Sexagenarian Women

When I look around me during my reformer pilates class and during my coffee chats afterwards, we are all sexagenarian women sharing the same intention in mind. We want to take care of our bodies, keep the weight down, keep flexible and toned. But we also want to keep up with our grandchildren and be valued in society, and not just as grandmothers. We’re now questioning all of the antiquated beliefs that society has dictated to us.

Much of our topic of conversations surround these issues. But we also talk a lot about holidays and travel. Many of us are travelling both within Australia and on overseas jaunts. Some of us are also still engaged in part time work and contributing to the economy as valued workers. We are all looking for motivation from each other to keep ourselves active and healthy. This is the wonderful thing about women’s groups at this age.

The trick is to keep lovin’ life after sixty and always remain passionate and positive about this stage in your life. Keep fit, healthy and strong and make sure you get out there enjoying your life and seeing the world.

“It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
– Abraham Lincoln