![]() Those labels - young and old - are relative by nature and commonly defined externally. How could it be that women in their 40s were desirable as wives in the 17th century? As Collins discovered, it was an issue of scarcity. It was the clause “under 50 years of Age” that caught Collins’ attention. “If any Maid or single Woman have a desire to go over, they will think themselves in the Golden Age, when Men paid a Dowry for their Wives: for if they be but Civil, and under 50 years of Age, some honest Man or other, will purchase them for their Wives,” the advertisement stated. The overarching theme of her latest book, “No Stopping Us Now: The Adventures of Older Women in American History,” is about how we define the terms young and old as they apply to the fairer sex - and how those words can be weaponized to undermine a woman’s value in society.Ĭollins, whose age I won’t cite, got the idea for the book after finding a document encouraging English women to emigrate to the colonies. ![]() It wasn’t lost on me that Collins, a columnist for the New York Times, and I would be talking about age, beauty standards and how the pressures put on women to look a certain way have evolved over time. But the interview was on camera, and I was worried about how people might react if I didn’t put in even just a little extra effort. I don’t normally do those things, preferring to spend the time sleeping. ![]() As I was preparing to interview Gail Collins, I got up an extra hour early to dry my hair and put on makeup. ![]()
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