To begin, Betty Friedan redirects our gaze from nostalgia to growth, proposing age as a phase with its own tasks and powers. Her later work 'The Fountain of Age' (1993) argued that later life can expand autonomy, purpose, and civic voice rather than shrink them. Psychology echoes this shift: Erik Erikson’s life-cycle theory describes a turn toward generativity and integrity, where contribution and meaning become central. Thus, aging is not an echo of youth but a new chapter with a different plot, inviting agency rather than resignation. [...]
