Mandy Nolan’s article, ‘The Grandpa Wars’, had some great lines, but it was surprising to read ageism, racism, and sexism written in such a triumphal tone. Biden and Trump may both be too old and incompetent puppets in a pantomime election, but the ‘old white men’ slur along with blaming patriarchy is tired and helps no one.
The concept has been bannered by feminism for over 50 years, and it hasn’t helped change much except entrench division and rivalry between men and women because it is flawed. It blames men as if they were all part of a secretive system, with an insulting conflation of good or skilled men with bad men in power. It also helps people ignore the larger problems of, for example, capitalism out of anyone’s control, governments that seek to control us all, and the ongoing war between regulated productivity and consumption, favoured by most large institutions, and creativity and spirit.
To mirror Nolan’s argument, should we talk about ‘old white women’ as a slur, or about older women in power as corrupt representations of matriarchy or femocracy? And if we did, would that help?
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
