Still Going Strong. Janet Amalia W einberg. Binghamton, New York: The Haworth Press, 2006; xviii + 293 pages; ISBN 0-7890-2871-9; $22.95US (paper).
Janet Amalia W einberg's edited collection Still Going Strong is a spirited work comprised of memoirs, stories and poem s about uniquely talented mature wom en. W omen's strengths, challenges and joys are the major themes in this book, functioning to offset the demeaning

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stereotypes of older wom en and advising wom en of all ages to unsubscribe to the m isogynist and ageist beliefs im posed by cultures that are so often male-dom inated and youth-centered. There is no grieving for "being old" or for the feeling of "getting into a dead-end" in this collection. Rather, each page is about celebrating wom en's experiences of "conquering Mt. Everest," acquiring wisdom as one ages, engaging in just causes, self-definition or counting blessings. Compassion, creativity and hilarity are vividly written on every page of this book.
On the whole, readers can witness women's personal growth and fulfillm ent in each piece included here, illustrating the positive aspects of being aged and contesting popular im ages of mature wom en as fragile, dependent, disconnected, malicious and/or unproductive. Indeed, the stories and poems documented in this collection exemplify and broaden feminism; they tell stories about the "I am" or "we are" rather than about what others think or say about "us." In cultures where definitions of wom en and wom en's values are so often based on their looks, physical attractiveness to the opposite sex, reproductive capacity, ability to comply with socially constructed sex roles and the size of the "supplem entary" paycheck that a wom an can bring home, women's subjectivities, mental powers and a whole range of other admirable qualities - sharpness, wittiness, persistence, hum ility, perseverance, assertiveness, expressiveness, and joyfulness - are very often dismissed. Being able to define who one is and to talk about aging in ways that are both hum ourous and victorious appears to be a liberating process for older wom en. This sets the stage for wom en located in other social categories to find liberation in refusing the socially constructed meanings of their "wom anness"; be it in relation to age, racialization, sexuality, or ability.
W hile many authors in this collection acknowledge som e of the lim itations and losses that go along with

being "older," the title of this book - and the title of one of its collected pieces - suggests that getting older m eans "Still going strong." This, it is im plied, is a true "declaration of independence" for women.
Josephine Fong York University