ABSTRACT
The old woman finds herself captured by stereotypes which drain her initiative and shatter her self-respect. The mythical prototypes of the Wicked Old Witch with unnatural powers, the Old Bad Mother with neurotic power needs, and the Little Old Lady, ludicrously powerless, cloud the individuality of every woman past sixty. The potential energy which is dissipated through woman-to-woman ageism may not be obvious until one gets "over the hill". But it should be clear to all lesbians that ageism distracts us from the pursuit of our essential Self, the very identity which lesbianism makes possible. Active confrontation of our conditioned loathing of the old woman is only the first step. The second is to become consciously anti-ageist, a step toward self-love, and a step away from the contempt and terror with which we evade the eventual future. Lesbians, the group within women's culture most self-conscious about patriarchal values, cultivate the illusion that we waltz to our own tunes.
