| Old Age as a Time of New Opportunities| | | | | | The article “Old Age as a Time of New Opportunities (from the Foundation of Age)” by Betty Friedan opened my eyes to a perspective that I had never really thought about. It was about how old age is usually perceived as another step closer to death. In this article we are able to understand the perspective of an elder female. The female is 59 years old almost 60. She wants to go to Outward Bound which will give her the extreme outdoor experience.
She goes with her friend Cecelia Herwich. They have to leave their city clothes and forget about who they were in the past and have to leave behind their professional role. When they arrive at the first campsite they are given their gear. They are given a backpack, poncho, sleeping bag, ground cloth, tin cup, spoon, water bottle, and iodine to purify it. They begin with a three mile jog up and down the road. She turned out to be the slowest because she had problems catching up with everyone else.
That night they spoke about why they went. A woman named Ruth said she went because she wanted to do something exciting before she settled into a rocking chair. Another that was there was Earl. He said he was drawn in by the simple fact that it was dangerous because he would have to be there for ten days away from what he is used to and not knowing who else would be there along with him. After wards they mention that there are usually more men and that their expedition is the first to have more women involved.
They stated that there are usually young men but not young women. Then they ask if women get more adventurous with age. I think that it is true that women get more adventurous the older they get. I think that this is true because they are afraid of retreating to nothing without feeling they did something that they have never tried before. They are afraid because they feel the vicious cycle of cleaning the house, taking care of the children, keeping up with husband and kids, etc.
They are basically getting tired of the daily routine that they always have to put up with as regular house wives. Women feel they have been put down for too long so they want to do a change in their life. They want to feel that they did something different for once. I think that this would be an excellent topic to discuss in Sociology class. It is a good topic because it can be viewed in various ways. The different ways of viewing this article is interesting because everyone will most likely have a different way of perceiving it by the way their brain is functioning.
