ABSTRACT
Feminist theory has been proliferating since about 1970. Nearly from the start, feminist theorists working within the three major perspectives—radical, liberal and socialist —have been developing analyses of aging. Like feminism, gerontology considers the elderly both as a single group within a society and as a set of subgroups. The conflict perspective characteristic of feminist theory has been adopted by old age activists who analyse discrimination against the aged in the context of the entire social system. On the contrary, some feminist theoreticians and writers see woman's body as a source of knowledge, insight and wisdom. For women themselves, menopause may become an object of competition. Women can compete as to who is "really young", that is a woman who is still menstruating is younger than one who is not, regardless of chronological age. The major contribution that the issue of aging can make to feminism is the mandate to re-examine all feminist theory in light of this dimension.
