The social sciences have been dominated by a male middle-class bias, and this has served to invalidate the unique experiences and perspectives of women. Studies on aging have usually considered older men and women as a homogenous, asexual group, as Dulude (188) has stated,

Feminism has begun to correct this bias, but most research on women has concentrated on younger and middle-aged women, just as most active feminist lobbying has focussed on issues as they affect women's early and middle adult years. No doubt, changes made now will positively affect the lives of future older women, but the process is a slow and indirect one.

McDaniel (1989) has suggested that combining the sociology of aging with the sociology of women will result in more and better research on older women, while the increasing pressure from women, especially "greying" feminists, will force policy-makers to consider the needs of older women.

Aging and Sexism

Age and sex, being the two dominant ways of organizing people in most societies, are used to define appropriate roles, behaviors, and attitudes, as well as to bestow privileges, positions, and sanctions upon individuals. Many of the "problems" of older age are uncannily similar to the "problems" of women, and are rooted in our ageist and sexist society. Depression and loneliness are all too characteristic of many women's experiences in their later years.

In a broader social context, growing old returns individuals to the "private" world of domesticity and isolates them from the social and economic relations of the "public" world. In this sense, ageism encountered by elderly men may simply introduce them to the fact that they are now treated "more like women": as increasingly dependent, vulnerable, and marginal. Aging is, for the most part, a "feminized state" (Roebuck 1983), characterized by low status, economic vulnerability, and social exclusion.

Education Provision for Older Women

Current educational opportunities for older women are almost nonexistent. The majority of social, recreational, and educational programs designed for later life are based on a personal growth concept that is highly individualistic and directed toward the "expressive" needs of seniors. These programs are normally provided through seniors' centres, continuing education departments and community centres, and offer hobby, fitness, artistic, and literary activities. In themselves, these programs provide an opportunity for social and personal development but fall short of being instrumental in significantly altering the well-being of aging women or changing either personal or societal concepts about old age and old women. Although studies have indicated that older women prefer expressive activities as opposed to instrumental ones (like career advancement), the reasons for this are not entirely clear. We know that for many elderly women, education has not figured positively or prominently in their lives. Older women have been socialized to have low expectations of what is available to them in the way of educational programming. And older women often have low expectations of themselves - they experience feelings of being "too old," "too dumb," or of it being "too late."

Educational gerontologists support an approach to "senior" education which focuses on helping seniors to make the transition into later life. Consequently, older adult education is geared either to leisure-oriented, expressive activities or to programs designed to help the elderly cope with late-life transitions related to health, family, and retirement.