WOMEN GONE ROGUE

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of older women on Facebook these days? Older women posting videos of their lives? Or are these just my algorithms? I follow a couple of these elder video blogs (or vlogs) and I think how brave, how entertaining but why? Is it for fun, or showing off, or because they can?

We are healthier and living longer, however many of us complain about feeling invisible, not taken seriously. Perhaps this is what’s motivating this emergence of videos portraying older women with their ‘look at me I still have it’ costumes. These outrageous women adorn their often-wrinkled bodies with heavy jewellery, scarfs, furs and lace as they girlishly prance in their stilettos. They’re not going to be invisible!

The vlogs I enjoy are of (not so ordinary) ordinary women. Women I would like to know, such as Barbara Shaw (Art in Textiles) from somewhere in Herefordshire UK as she shows off her clothing choice for the day, dons the wool sweater that she just finished knitting, tops it with a jacket she repurposed from an old blanket and then pulls on a hat and her matching gloves, comments on the weather and then with a twirl goes out into the British countryside for a walk. I love her, I am entranced, she does art as well, paintings and fabric art and her sweet smile makes me happy. Somebody films her obviously, but what is the purpose? Sharing her life with the world? Does she sell her knitting and paintings? Why has she chosen to do this?

Would anyone care if I had Grant video me as I got dressed? Done in good taste, of course. Let me see, what is my look for today…ah French Dressing jeans will do, with the butterfly patterned sox my daughter bought me last birthday, then picking up the mauve hues of the sox, I’ll pull on a purple fair traded ethically sourced organic cotton top and off I’ll go with a little twirl and girlish toss of my head to sit at my computer and write. Ah, maybe not.

There must be money in it. Somewhere. But how? Or am I missing the sheer creativity of it, a new art form?

Another video I watch is Bealtaine Cottage, in Ireland. Colette O’Neill is the creator. She has transformed her barren 3 acres of land and created a lush habitat, her videos follow the progress of her gardens, others show how she has artfully transformed her home. This charming Celtic mystic is also a Druidess, a writer, and a successful middle-aged woman living her dream life. A woman who has chosen to wear what ever she likes, mixing vintage and new and relishing in it.

I recently ordered Collette’s e-book Imbolc. Imbolc is a sacred festival celebrating the beginning of Spring and the Goddess Brigid in the Celtic calendar. Also called Saint Brigid’s Day. I have a cross of St Brigid, made of rushes hanging over my front door, brought to me by Grant’s granddaughter Sheena on her return from Ireland many years ago. I also wear a cross of St Brigid, a gift from Grant.

Imbolc falls on February 1^st this year and we’ll be welcoming the subtle beginnings of Spring.

Sharon in her faux fur coat, never invisible

There are many middle-aged women out there in internet land, sharing their expertise, talents, creativity, some making a living out of it, others marketing their brand. The one thing they have in common apart from obviously enjoying themselves, is that they are not invisible! Take my dear friend Sharon pictured here in her faux fur coat, talking as always to a random stranger in a café. She’s dressed modestly on this day. Usually, she’s adorned with beads and scarves and layers and its always an adventure hanging out with her. She’s never invisible.

If you want to see other middle- aged women refusing to be invisible, you must watch Sally Wainwright’s new series, Riot Women on BritBox. (Sally Wainwright who gave us Last Tango in Halifax, Happy Valley and more.)  The acting is superb, the story line is poignant, tissue on hand recommended and it’s wildly funny, truly middle- aged women gone rogue.

So, my lovely women friends, wear what you like, laugh and celebrate friendships and don’t let yourselves slide into beige invisibility. Go a little rogue!

When I told Grant what I was writing about this month, he said. “What about old men? We become invisible too as we age.”

“Fair point,” I said. “Next month’s blog.”

From your Island Crone.