In the Goddess temples of the Middle East and Egypt they were doctors, midwifes, surgeons, and advisors on health care, bringing up children, and sexuality. They officiated at ceremonies, were scribes for sacred books and vital records. They were teachers of the young. Seldom are elderly women teachers of the young today, in fact, they are seldom given any consideration at all. Present day societies seldom see them or want them seen.
Emphasis is on youth, beauty and sexuality.
The young woman is the ideal. Society gives the elderly woman her pension chec while she sits by her television set being contented. Most are because society and the Church has decreed this an appropriate life style for them. After 65, if not long before most women feel they have served of their lives, only death awaits them. Many fail to recognize that their minds and bodies are still growing.