Barbara MacDonald (1913-2000) – MacDonald is a pivotal figure in the development of Aging Studies within the context of Women & Gender Studies. In a dynamic speech at the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) conference, she urged for a focus on older women’s lives. Most critically, MacDonald tied ageism to patriarchy – again addressing the NWSA audience: “ The source of your ageism, the reason you see older women as there to serve you, comes from family. It was in patriarchal family that you learned that mother is there to serve you, her child, that serving you is her purpose in life. This is not woman’s definition of motherhood” (9, MacDonald, 1989).
With her partner, Cynthia Rich, MacDonald co-edited the volume “Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging, and Ageism” (1983).
“ From the beginning of this wave of the women’s movement, from the beginning of women’s studies, the message has gone out to those of us over sixty that your “Sisterhood” does not include us, that those of you who are younger see us as men see us – that is, as women who used to be women but aren’t any more.” (6, Macdonald, 1989).
Macdonald, B. (1989). Outside the sisterhood: Ageism in women’s studies. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 17(1/2), 6-11.
Macdonald, B., & Rich, C. (2001). Look me in the eye: Old women, aging and ageism. Spinsters Ink.
