Have you ever wondered what makes crabby old ladies crabby? Maybe they’re having a bad day? Maybe younger people are being rude to them and they’re speaking up for themselves? Maybe they’ve always been crabby? Maybe they’ve lived a long life and don’t give a shit what people think of them any more?
According to Sunshine Mary — “Christian, wife, mother, and anti-feminist” — the real problem is feminism.
And she’s got proof!
In a blog post today titled The coarsening effect of feminism on elderly women she tells the horrifying story of how she personally witnessed some crankiness from an old lady while she was innocently going about her business shopping for groceries and silently judging other people:
As I approached the milk cooler, I observed an elderly woman, probably in her late seventies, and her husband, who was probably around eighty. The woman was wearing brown pants that appeared to be Carhartts and rainbow colored sneakers; she looked ridiculous. I have been noticing lately that even elderly women’s appearance has worsened; they often wear their hair in short, mannish styles, as opposed to the short but feminine style that elderly women used to wear, and they seem to be wearing men’s clothing now.
Ok, so far the only crabby person here seems to be Sunshine Mary herself, working herself into a lather over an elderly woman’s short hair and rainbow-colored sneakers.
But wait! Sunshine Mary continues with her tale of terror in the dairy aisle:
As I stood patiently nearby waiting to access the milk cooler, I eavesdropped on the elderly couple’s conversation. I didn’t hear what the man had said, but the old woman was responding harshly with a nasty look on her face as she complained, “I want it, and I am going to get it. I need to because you don’t take me shopping enough!” They shuffled off down the aisle, she still crabbing and he pushing the cart silently.
I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE IT A WOMAN DEMANDING TO GET THE KIND OF YOGURT OR WHATEVER THE FUCK IT WAS THAT SHE WANTED TO GET, EVEN THOUGH HER HUSBAND FOR SOME REASON APPARENTLY THOUGHT SHE SHOULDN’T GET IT, ACTUALLY WHY WOULD THAT BE ANY OF his business why am I yelling?
Sunshine Mary wonders what kind of world could create crabby old ladies like this:
I thought about her unfeminine appearance and harsh behavior and also recalled … an article about how elderly women are divorcing and engaging in online dating and casual sex, resulting in a sharp increase in sexually transmitted diseases among the elderly, and I wondered…What has happened to our older women? Why have they become so unfeminine? Why do they revel in exhibiting coarse behavior and using foul language?
Elderly women didn’t use to be like this.
Huh. I’s sort of stuck on the sexually transmitted diseases thing, because unless all these old ladies have become lesbians — and I’m pretty sure Sunshine Mary would have said something about that if that were the case — then these evil sex-having, STD-spreading old ladies are having sex with, and spreading STDs with, sex-having, STD-spreading men. So why is it that the ladies are the ones getting all the blame?
Also, how did we get from cranky old ladies in the dairy aisle to sexy old ladies having sex?
Anyway, as proof that old ladies used to be nothing but sugar and spice, Sunshine Mary posts a picture of her grandmother in 1974, and she does indeed seem to be a very nice granny. Apparently she never swore or talked about sex, at least not in the vicinity of Sunshine Mary.
And apparently Sunshine Mary’s great-grandmother was a very nice lady as well — even though she worked outside the home!
So why are the old ladies of today such evil, crabby, yogurt-demanding monsters?
Oh, yeah, that’s right: feminism.
The women who are in their seventies now would have been young women when second wave feminism took off in the early 1970s, and it shows. There are exceptions, of course, but in general they are far more coarse and unfeminine than the previous generation, and this is almost certainly due to the influence of feminism. …
Feminism was supposed to empower women, but instead it has turned all women into mere sex objects; all they bring of worth now is their sexuality, and when their youth fades, they have nothing left of value to offer.
Uh, since when has feminism been all about turning women into nothing but sex objects?
This is why we see old women either pathetically trying to look like a caricature of a young, sexy woman or just giving up and looking like old men. If you have nothing beyond your sexuality to offer, if you have built no lasting family, if you have chucked your husband and devoted most of your life to a career, then you end up with no feminine dignity for anyone to celebrate.
Yeah, it’s not like having an interesting and/or accomplished life is worth celebrating.
We women who are not yet elderly need to think about this and consider our own conduct, language, and appearance. What kind of elderly women do we hope to be someday? The type who are desperately clinging to the hope that they are sexxxxay and hip in their dotage, looking and behaving just as crass as the younger women?
Sorry to break it to you, Sunshine, but when people live longer lives, their sex lives last longer as well. I don’t know if you realize this, but people you think are too old, or too unattractive, or too whatever to be having sex … are having sex all the time. That couple you saw in the grocery store may have had sex for three hours as soon as they got home. They may have even worked the yogurt into it.
I know that I don’t want to be that way. I hope that I will be more like my grandmother and great-grandmother – a dignified, feminine, woman who is both respectable and respected, who takes care of her family and does not embarrass them with outrageously coarse behavior.
Don’t worry, Sunshine. You’re already plenty embarrassing.
Perhaps old ladies have always been cranky old sex fiends, it’s just Sunshine Mary hasn’t been old enough to be in on the secret until now.
Thank you THANK YOU for introducing me to Sunshine Mary’s blog. I can’t stop reading. Not with blog titles like “Are Christian men unattractive pansies?”
A few years back, I was driving along the road & I was overtaken by an old, grey-haired lady driving a bright red MG convertible. And I thought “That. That is going to be me in my old age”.
I, for one, am *shocked* that somebody might be crabby in the vicinity of Sunshine Mary. *snickers*
Reading her stuff makes me want to yell at her to get off my lawn, and I’m only 35.
except that I plan to dye my hair purple or green. Maybe both. 🙂
Shoter Mary:
“Damn these
kidsold ladies today with their rock ‘n roll music and their s-e-x; why can’t they be respectful likewemy grandparents were!? GET OF MY LAWN YOUYOUNGOLD WHIPPERSNAPPERS!!!”Love (not really) that Sunshine Mary continues to believe that she is the arbiter of women’s appearance. Isn’t she the one who was ranting about the lack of style amongst survivors of Hurricane Sandy?
So, old ladies get some sort of celebration for feminine dignity at The End? Why was I never told about this? Woe, it is already too late for me, as, in addition to studying profanity with a passion little known outside the language arts, I have failed to reproduce, and mostly prefer pants. What ever shall I do?!
I aspire to be like this old lady.
Hmm, what’s missing from this judgy whinge? I know! It’s the men. Who are these wicked old ladies having sex with? Could it be men their own age? I guess that’s OK though, because dudes can fuck if they feel like it. Speaking of which…
Because it’s fun. You should try it some time – it’s either that or you take up boxing, because you seem to have a lot of anger, and if you don’t release it somehow you’re going to get ulcers.
So this is the first time you’ve actually met retirees, then?
bodycrimes: Are you a fresh de-lurker? If so, someone should be here in a bit with a Welcome Package.
When I was young, I remember my grandmother lecturing me how no one in our family ever had sex other than with their spouse. Imagine my astonishment when looking into our family tree to discover the half dozen or so children born to her unwed aunts. I never realised how good a fibber Granny was. 🙂
So, Sunshine Mary, old ladies. You would not believe how good they are at deceiving their grandchildren. Age & cunning over youth & innocence, you know.
Nooooo it’ll rot your brain!
“PEOPLE DON’T BEHAVE THE WAY I WANT THEM TO AND I AM DEEPLY OFFENDED BY THAT!”
My granny is basically Nanny Ogg with more teeth and less children. If she’d ever tried to persuade me that nobody in our family had sex before marriage I’d have peed myself laughing.
So, old ladies get some sort of celebration for feminine dignity at The End? Why was I never told about this?
Oh, sure. If you make it to age 80 without cussing, being crabby, having a job, or wearing sneakers, the Arbiters of Ladyhood send you a special medal you could show off at the nursing home if it wasn’t forbidden for women to admit to having accomplishments.
At this very moment I’m typing this at a coffee shop and watching an older couple across the room. (I have no idea what their relationship is.) The man is in a wheelchair and appears to have a motor-neuron disorder, so he speaks slowly and with effort. The woman is leaning toward him, listening attentively, and talking and joking with him. I’m going to ignore Sunshine Mary and focus on them instead.
Cassandra, the Hurricane Sandy fashion critic was The Thinking Housewife, I believe. I should go see what she’s been up to lately.
I bet Sunshine Mary is a lot of fun in the sack.
Hell’s bells, there are two FeMRA’s dictating how women dress?
My maternal grandmother never wore a pair of slacks in her life, put on pantyhose everyday, cooked and baked everything from scratch, made all her and my grandfather’s clothes, and had a huge vegetable garden. Sunshine Mary would love her, right? Well, probably not when she lost her temper. Which wasn’t often, but still. My grandmother was not a subservient woman. If she was displeased, she let you know in no uncertain terms. She also was not a feminist, so apparently it isn’t feminism’s fault.
I certainly hope Sunshine Mary doesn’t fancy herself the epitome of genteel. Criticizing one’s elders is hardly lady-like behavior. 😀
I don’t mean this to be rude, but doesn’t this woman have better things to worry about? Why is she wasting her time criticizing the clothes and shopping habits of some old couple she saw for ten seconds at a super market?
Made me LOL. A friend of mine and I used to walk around campus quietly judging some of the student’s more unfortunate outfits. (Uggs with shorts? NO!) Then we decided that was too mean, so we switched to quietly offering constructive criticism. (When your wedge sandals have heels so high that it takes you 10 minutes to teeter precariously across the library lobby, you may want to consider flats!)
So it turns out we were actually more Christian than Sunshine Mary.
My grandma was such a good liar, she had my little self convinced she was 36 for years. I was a chatty child, and the lady I told that to in the grocery store almost lost her eyebrows raising them when I told her how young my grandmother was.
Sunshine will be a pain in the ass no matter what age she is. No one likes a judgy busybody.