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Congratulations and welcome to the over forty women's club! Our club is bursting with amazing women. But two generations ago becoming forty was a signal to start searching for your perfect rocking chair. Nowadays, we're still designing and building them.

There are so many social benefits these days based on actions taken by those who have, in the 20th century, fought for equal rights and wages. We are the beneficiaries of advances in health care and safety issues that inform our lives and that of our families. The vigor of our presence in the world is more formally recognized than at any time in history. We continue to make significant strides in some social communities governed by traditional or religious stereotypes.

We can look to every strata of our society today and find women over forty to have been elected, appointed and promoted. And we now have Hillary Clinton as a role model to inspire future generations of women. We can take a pause and clap for us. We have dodged a lot of negatives to arrive at forty with our baggage in tow but under control.

We look and feel a whole lot better than then previous generations. We have to face some of the same emotional challenges as our forbears, however, we are far more equipped to do so now, and to understand the issues. We are not so much identified by our age, but by what we are able to accomplish.

There may still be bastions of good old boys, secretly polishing a glass ceiling out there somewhere, however, we would be hard pressed to locate them these days. Further, they will not prevent us from our appointed rounds with financial success.

My grandmother could not even imagine the options we have today. We have super famous role models in politics, media, publishing, photography and so many other professions that are over forty and give us a reason to work hard toward our own goals and dreams.

Menapause is not the end of the road anymore, far from it, merely a signal we are indeed female. Best of all this universal event is out in the open, supported by articles with supportive information that encourages a new female camaraderie.

Being over forty means you can insist on good service for your car, and the mechanic will actually listen to you. There may be a glass ceiling here and there, however, there are more chances of continuing to dream and fulfill those dreams than ever before in history.

Women have come a long way since Susan B. Anthony marched for women's right to vote. It is our time to march forward into our sixties and seventies still learning, still working, playing with vigor and joy, and still contributing to the society around us. We have seen middle age and it will not cramp our style, to the contrary, at forty we are in charge. Onward!

Learn more about this author, Jacquie Schmall.
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