Almost forty years have passed since Diane von Furstenberg marched into our collective consciousness, causing women around the world to rethink how to dress for power . . . with style.

When I was in college in the mid 70s, Diane von Furstenberg was on top of her game. Designer,...

It's time to change how we think about and talk about aging in the media.

We are continuously bombarded with messages at every turn urging us to join the war against aging (at a cost). We listen to the "anti-aging sirens" sing sweet words of encouragement (and promises) in our...

By the time we hit 50, most of us have developed some kind of management system for our lives. We had to. How else could we balance school, work, play dates, doctor appointments, walking the dog, making dinner, shopping for groceries, washing laundry, paying bills and working out and still...

Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.
- Elizabeth I

Here's a very common scenario -- and dilemma -- for many men and women in midlife: Let's say you were married for a few years, or even decades. Then, came the...

Everyone fantasizes about finding the perfect doctor. The one who will remember every single thing about you, year after year; who will be completely up-to-date on the latest medical discoveries and research; who will listen to everything you need to talk about without rushing you out the door so she...

To be authentic, according to most authorities on authenticity, is to be true to one's own self, to one's own nature. I suppose Paula Deen, while instructing viewers to add butter, sugar, and more butter and sugar (and then deep frying everything in more butter) to her recipes -- allegedly...

Spontaneous sex is a myth.

Why, you may ask yourself, are you not having wild, spontaneous sex now that you and your partner have been together for five, ten, fifteen, maybe twenty or more years? The honest answer is this: it was never spontaneous in the first place, and good...

A not-so-quiet revolution has been picking up massive steam on the Internet ... and I'm proud to be a part of it. It's all about how we talk about, view and react to aging in America.

We are continuously bombarded with messages at every turn urging us to join the...

I know my story is your story too.

Five years ago, I turned 50. It felt as though everything changed overnight. 
In my 20s, 30s and 40s, I charged ahead with life, first throwing myself into my career -- I worked as a magazine publisher -- and then, in my...

The holidays should be a time of joy . . . but that isn't the case for many post 50 Americans.

Always digging deeper into what women over 50 are really thinking (and not just depending on the academic reports and studies, many of which are frightfully discouraging), I asked...

Growing up in 1960s Brooklyn, TV watching was simple and predictable: Friday nights found us watching The Addams Family (accompanied by Swanson TV Dinners to round out the experience), and Sundays (our family's favorite TV night) featured Wild Kingdom followed by The Ed Sullivan Show. There were far fewer channels...

My husband shops for fun. He'll spend hours on the Internet, perusing different sites from Zappos to HauteLook to Orvis in search of the perfect kahki pants. Or, he'll swing over to Bloomingdale's on a Saturday afternoon to see what's on sale, lingering a little longer...

A few years ago, around the time we both entered our fifties, Ellen Barkin was profiled in the New York Times Magazine. I was eager to read what she had to say, because she's always seemed so wise and worldly to me with her sexy, crooked smile. Scanning the article,...

Most women over 50 I know are displeased -- to put it mildly -- that the Equal Rights Amendment is still not a permanent part of our U.S. Constitution. Every year it is introduced to Congress, and every year it sits and languishes, even though there are many supportive groups...

According to Dr. Virginia Valian, Professor of Psychology and Linguistics at Hunter College and author of Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women, where you look during social interactions clearly indicates your status, and more often than not, women tend to come across as "subservient" when...

The Occupy Movement continues to protest economic inequality. But it might be missing an important opportunity to create a lasting legacy that will resonate for generations to come: to push for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

A more effective and powerful approach to reaching the Occupy...

I would never view myself as a grumpy, curmudgeonly Luddite. However, after reading an article in the New York Times -- "A Monitor of Health, Worn Lightly" -- by technology writer David Pogue, I was mentally exhausted and ready to dump my iPhone in the garbage.

Instead,...

I ran the NYC Marathon in 2003 when I was 47, not knowing exactly what I was getting into, especially since I only started running in order to be in the marathon.

At that time, my goal was simply to finish. And, I did... in six hours and 45...

Today I ran my final pre-NYC Marathon training run. It was an easy 4-mile jaunt around a part of the loop that winds through Central Park. The weather was perfect -- chilly and sunny. Leaves had started turning glorious shades of red, orange and yellow. I was giddy with excitement,...

Diligence is the mother of good luck.
-- Benjamin Franklin

It's so easy to be superstitious, especially around Halloween. Break a mirror, have a cat (especially a black one) cross your path, spill salt... all of these can -- if we let them -- make us believe that we're...