A Creative Look At The Effects Of Western Hegemonic Beauty Standards on Women 60+
Gale Giles, 64
Most of the time, Gale Giles sings to the beat of her own song. On Sundays, however, she sings to the beat of the Lord's. A retired finance and accounting specialist, Ms. Giles spends her days helping out at First Presbyterain Church of Hayward, and practicing the week's vocal set with the choir. When Sunday rolls around, she attends mulitple religious gatherings back-to-back at different establishments across the East Bay. Fortunately, she lives right across the street from First Pres, and so every Sunday enjoys the brief stroll to the 10a.m. morning service.
Gale is an independent woman in that she is not married and does not have children. "I've come close to it several times, moving in with different boyfriends and whatnot," she says with a quick chortle. She moved to Castro Valley after having spent some time in Southern California, where she first began her career at Philip Morris International, the tobacco company, in the finance and accounting department. A smart woman with an advanced degree and a steady career, Gale was accostomed to being the person to help others and her own self. This was until she suffered from a life-threatening brain aneurysm, which caused her to frequent not only in and out of doctors' offices, but the church as well.
"I just need some peace of mind in Jesus," she says.
"Fashion, for me, is class."
“I think it’s the little bit of narcissism that’s in all of us. We want to look our best, and, as we get older, our best changes.”
"It’s hard to tell right now a 50-year-old woman walking down the street between a 30-year-old woman."
"We start early in maintaining ourselves, because you can’t reverse things over many, many years."