Training with Jane

The article "Training with Jane" from the Wisconsin State Journal highlighted both positive and negative aspects of the search for self-fulfillment in older women, as well as their portrayal by the media. While the article is uplifting and even touching in its description of the genuine friendships based on a distinctly female bond, it also makes obvious the general disregard for older women of different social classes, races, or ethnicities. Furthermore, its patronizing tone only serves to reinforce the tendency of the media to treat older women with condescension.
The article (from Saturday, October 22, 2005) describes the tri-weekly exercise/socialization ritual shared by sixteen women ranging in age from 58 to 89. For the past nineteen years these women have met in the early morning to work up a sweat to the original 1982 "Jane Fonda's Workout". …