Matriarch - Changes in the Last 100 Years

There are many more matriarch women alive and healthy today than there were 100 years ago. How are we different from those matriarchs of 1913? 

• Many more of us have worked outside the home and farm for most of our adult lives….careers that were separate from family life although we were challenged to ‘balance’ work and life. In 1913, the dominate roles that women played were home based.
• When our children were young we often paid for child care or carefully planned our work for when they were in school rather than always being close to home. We may be more likely to provide day care for our grandchild than we did for our children. That may be something we have in common with the women in 1913 that survived until their matriarch years - that desire for a deep involvement with our grandchildren.
• Now we have our own money and property. In 1913, there were legal barriers to both. Women were dependent on their male relatives for just about everything. We have our own credit history and retirement plans now with both the responsibility and independence that comes with them.
• Women could not vote in 1913 in the US. Now the cohort of women matriarchs is vocal in many issues of the day. As women come to the phase of their lives where the frenzy children at home and career stress wanes, current issues get increased focus. Matriarchs vote at polling places and with purchases/contributions.
• Matriarchs are mobile now. Technology and legal/financial changes have made it easier for us to stay in touch with our family even if they are not living nearby. However, many of us would prefer living near our family just as the matriarchs of 1913 preferred.
• We spend less time with food than the matriarchs in 1913 did. We purchase most of our food rather than grow it. Technology development has given us refrigerators and microwaves. And we are much less formal at meal times. There is a common goal with the women in 1913 though: we want to eat good, well prepared food that helps us stay healthy.
• Another area where a lot has changed since 1913 is in reproductive health. One of the reasons there are so many more matriarchs today is the improvements in pre-natal and child birth care….and the advent of birth control. Women no longer have children until they die. We do have new worries for our sons and daughters about hormone mimicking pollutants impacts reproduction - which may guide us to look harder at how the way we live impacts the planet. 

A lot has changed for matriarchs in the past 100 years but a lot has stayed the same as well. We are women that have lived long enough to have a personal, well-developed philosophy of life. I apply mine by noticing something worth celebrating every day.