His ride is a trip into the past. A past which is real to the writer. It seemed like they hadn't noticed that I had written about a seventy-five years old man. Most of my female critics, on the other hand, shared the experience of ageing. I don't think this difference between male and female critics is accidental.
Age often comes as a shock to men.
First their hair develops a grey, distinguished look and then they take younger women as lovers. Women, on the other hand, age slowly but inevitably. In our society, old women are the losers. Since I have been handicapped all my life I have never been forced to resemble the cultural incarnation of a male. Culturally, I'm between women and men.