“Nans against Nazis” read one large placard brandished at the recent anti-racism protests in Liverpool. It belonged to 71-year-old Pat. “Someone said to me, ‘You’re too old, don’t be doing this,’” she told the Independent. “But as long as they’re here someone’s got to do it.” She’s not the only one who refuses to be invisible. As the editor of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour for more than a decade, I became so familiar with countless stories of active, busy older women that I’ve now written a book of advice for today’s grandmothers.
I interviewed more than 100 women. Many of them were exasperated at the tired old stereotypes that either portray us as frail, ancient, hobbling, lonely old biddies, or the equally cliched antithesis: “battling grannies” or “granny heroines”. The very word “granny” has become a shorthand for “old lady”, a handy way to define us by our age and dwindling status (and it bears little relation to whether or not you actually have grandchildren).
