Aging Womanhood Available to Purchase

When I was young, new students addressed me as “Miss Wheeler”; when I became middle‐aged, “Mrs. Wheeler,” while all around me they called men of all ages “Dr.” and “Professor.” When I was middle‐aged, I involved myself in a civil rights action; the administrator in charge of my department was referred to as “that nice young man,” and I sometimes as “the old bat” — there was a year's difference in our ages. By way of introduction to the topic of aging and females, here are four concepts to consider: