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.
I’ll be sure to let the older women at the embroidery guild I joined about sunshine pov. Now these are some lovely older women, dedicated to preserving the very feminine art of embroidery, but sadly they don’t meet sunshine dress code. I’m sure that a few cutting remarks towards Mary will ensue, but probably no cussing since we meet in a rented room in a church.
OT, I’m found an embroidery guild to join! So many fun projects to learn! Mary should join us, I’m sure that she’d get a wonderful attack of the vapours (and an education that little old ladies are in fact just like “regular” people).
@fade
That sounds awesome 😛
Pillowinhell, that’s great you found a guild! I remember you saying how hard it was to find stuff relating to embroidery in your part of Canada.
I really, really hope I don’t get to eighty or seventy or anywhere near it.
Is it time to talk about makeup/clothes? There don’t seem to be any trolls about and I’m trying a new colour corrector.
You know, anytime someone talks about taking away a woman’s right to vote, the racial and religious minorities, poor, LGBTQIA community and other “undesirables” can’t be far behind.
@kittehs
I can always talk about make up and clothes! (like any frivolous female should be able too 😛 /silly+kidding. Except the talk about clothes part. I do like that. Wow my sarcasm/ tongue in cheek disclaimer took longer than my actual typing.)
@sarahlizhousespouse
Since mras are mostly whiny straight white dudes, I think that works for them :/
I personally intend to be the next granny weatherwax. Now there’s a woman who will never have to shout “get off mah lawn!”
Or worries about fashion sense or the need to look fetching for men.
@Marie
Is SunshineMary an MRA or just your run-of-the-mill antifeminist?
@sarahlizhousespouse
If I remember correctly, she’s a femra? But I’m not sure.
kittehs – Of course we could talk about clothes and stuff. Maybe it’ll scare off the MRAs too. 😛
I can’t recall whether she’s specifically a feMRA or just a great example of internalised misogyny in the general sense, either.
Marie – LOL I like a good, solid disclaimer.
I bought L’Oreal’s colour corrector last night, the green one for reducing redness. So far I like it, though I wish it were a bit thicker. The tan-orange tone works well for me, ‘cos my face’s skin tone is very pink, as well as having a couple of red patches. I just hope it doesn’t make my roseacea break out again. I couldn’t for the life of me remember what active ingredients do that, and took a gamble with buying this stuff.
Kitteh, it’s been great so far! Apparently, they’ve been operating for the past twenty five years… But they are really having problems getting the word out that they exist. There are THREE embroidery guilds in Guelph, not that it helps me any, I don’t have a car. And, I’ll be ordering a book on left handed stitching. Why is it that books on calligraphy and stitching always feature info for eighties when all us lefties are hogging up all the space in the arts?
It’s an anti-lefthander conspiracy, that’s what it is!
I bought a left-hand calligraphy pen decades ago, mostly to prove the things existed. Didn’t help me any, though.
Sounds a lot like my grandmother. She’s outwardly congenial when out in public or socializing at a party, but she’s an awful person in private. What made it worse is that I and other family members tried to help her out and take care of her…yet she was constantly ungrateful for any effort made. Even if you did exactly what was demanded from her – it was never enough.
Example: when she went on vacation to my aunt’s, I decided to clean up her fridge since it was crowded and full of food far past the expiration date. Seemed like a nice thing to do, all considering. So I threw out most of the stuff in there, sprayed and wiped clean the inside, and proceeded to get some groceries once it was nice and tidy. You’d assume it’d be appreciated – given that’s what most people would feel – but instead she was mad at me over it (due a single jar of rotten relish, nonetheless). A single “thank you” was never given.
Especially if she’s going around imaging scenarios that infuriate her (which seems pointless and counter-productive). Most people I know would mind their own business and do things they enjoy – but I suppose some would rather be judgmental than content…
I think that our friend Sunshine drags her own personal cloud with her wherever she goes.
@kittehs
I figured it was better safe than sorry 😛 Even if it does make me sound awkward. XD
And sadly, I know nothing about color correctors, so it sounds like you’re talking in another language.
Betty White rocks! She’s funny, sharp, and has done a lot of advocacy for animals.
The only thing I know about colour correctors is that putting green stuff on red skin is supposed to knock the red back. Sort of like mixing paints. 🙂 This one’s one of those “smart” creams where the colour changes when you rub it in: it comes out of the tube green and then turns tan.
Did someone say makeup?
Kittehs: if you’re looking for something thicker, Make Up Forever has a concealer palette that does have a green corrector. It’s pretty thick, I’ve thinned it out with lotion before.
Smashbox has color correcting primers as well in a range of different colors, depending on what you want to even out.
Makeup that starts off as one color from the tube and turns another color once it’s on always oxidizes on my face and looks like hell.
Kittehserf, it takes hours of obsessive practice to master caligraphy. I should know, I spent two years in highschool as a sign painter and learned a few hundred lettering styles. Strangely, it was the freehand lettering I really sucked at, in spite of having to do calligraphy with my right hand to get it to look right.
Speaking of odd oxidation, because I’m on prescription iron, I have to be really careful about what toner my hairdresser uses after bleach–the first one she used turned my hair BLUE. Which is fine if you want blue hair, but since I had a big presentation coming up, thank FSM for asorbic acid.
I thought mentioning makeup might summon you, hellkell! 😀
I might look up those brands. Wish they were in the shops here; I do like to try makeup before buying it.
Blue hair! Holy hell.
Pillowinhell – oh, I know calligraphy takes forever to master; I was learning it in my first job. I bought the pen to see if it made it any easier to do the thick strokes thick and thin ones thin, with the different angle of the nib. It didn’t.
Oh, are we doing the hair and makeup conversation? Because I need recommendations on how to solve the issue of my color fading. My hairdresser told me to only wash my hair once or twice a week instead of daily, which just isn’t going to happen. I’ve been getting it done with an organic color that’s super gentle and non-damaging, but the payoff is that it fades from a 2 to a 6 or 7, which is annoying. Help me? My hair is much too fine and curly to deal with really strong dyes.
Wash your hair in cooler/cold water, especially if your color is red.
Kittehs: do you have Sephora in Australia? They do make samples of just about anything in store.