We are expected to participate in an ongoing battle against "our bodies, our selves" as we age, be it through plastic surgery, or the ingestion of an array of prescription drugs to help us "ease" the pain of growing old in an ageist society. Forms of violence so subtle, yet so acute are deeply penetrating. We come to learn "that an insidious process of rejection begins at thirty and escalates in middle age and beyond until women become both undesirable and untouchable" (9). We learn that if we don't take up arms against this terrible disease (aging), we can expect to be on the margins - isolated, alone, and man-less - and that this is both natural and inevitable. Crimes against aging women are committed every minute, every day, and one of the more enraging aspects of this form of violence is that once again women are taught to believe we deserve such relentless devaluation and erasure.

We sometimes seek help for feeling depressed, sick, full of disease by turning to the medical establishment, but the medical paradigm and practices are underpinned by and perpetuate the same set of sexist and ageist assumptions. There is an emphasis on our presumed psychological and physical deterioration. Doctors are taught to prescribe old women an array of vitamins, hormones, tranquilizers and anti-depressants in order "help" us combat the pain of aging (10). This is done to the neglect of any systematic critique of the myriad of health and social problems that arise for old women precisely because we live in an ageist society.

Nancy Ackerman / The Gazette

Older women are prescribed more mood altering drugs than any other group in North America. A study undertaken in the province of Saskatchewan found that "an astonishing 42% of women between 65 and 74, and 47% of women over 75 received mood modifiers in 1977" (11). These statistics read like something out of a horror movie, but the numbers and effects of this form of socially sanctioned violence against women is indeed very real! This crime is done, "for [our] own good" (12).

Old women have a lot to be angry about, but as Macdonald and Rich have made clear, "old women's anger is denied, tamed, drugged infantilized, trivialized. And yet anger in an old woman is a remarkable act of bravery" (13).

Re-Claiming Crone-Power: Some Violence Prevention Strategies
Validating our anger, understanding its sources, and channeling this energy is a necessary process in re-claiming our power-from-within, an indispensable component of any violence prevention strategy.

The Senior Citizens' Council is a non-profit grassroots community organization on the island of Montreal in the community of Notre-Dame de Grâce (NDG). It was founded in 1973 by senior citizens, predominantly persons over the age of 60 years, who were, and continue to be, concerned about the lack of resources to help maintain their independence and autonomy in the community. This goal underpins the philosophy, services, programs, and direction of the Council. Some forums include: various political and social action committees; direct home support services such as drives to medical appointments (Action Transport); the construction of wooden living aids (Woodworks); the provision of a weekly visit by volunteers to frail and isolated seniors who are usually female (Friendly Visiting); public information meetings, education and leisure programming (including a women's program); direct advocacy on behalf of many individuals.