The Red Hat Society: Embracing all the life they’ve got left
By Karlie Baker
IV Leader Staff, Nov 9, 2006
There are a lot of conferences and banquets held at
Starved Rock Lodge, my particular place of employment.
The Red Hat Society has come by more than once, wearing what
we thought were ridiculous amounts of costume clothing.
“What the heck are they doing?” my coworkers and I would ask.
Why would you want to celebrate being so old? The Red Hats’ most recent visit
struck a different chord than it had before, though. There were 40 of them, and
some of the ladies did not don the standard red hat — a few had pink, three or
four wore brown. Were they trial members? Was this some sign of shame, or are
they on Red Hat probation?
I began to wonder if the different-colored hats were a hazing
ritual ... do old ladies even have hazings? I presented my query to my coworker
Dusty. “I don’t know,” he said, scratching his goatee. “I bet they make
prospective members recite passages from ‘The Scarlet Letter.’ ”
Oh, the scandal of it all! I suddenly envisioned the Red Hats
as a clique of aged sorority sisters, cackling at the scene of another’s
humiliation.
Yet with careful observation, it is apparent that these women
are not capable of such menacing actions. They sat there like any ordinary group
of (graying) women, chattering of their experiences, sharing photographs and
charming anecdotes.
They distributed post-meal pieces of candy to each other. And
they laughed a genuine laugh that is both jubilant and contagious.
After a while, they seemed no different from my grandmother
and her friends, albeit more festively clothed. According to the Red Hat Society
Web site, the Red Hats boast themselves to be grown-up girls who still like to
play dress-up and have tea parties.
At an age where it looks like the extent of excitement is a
condo in Florida, they take joy in having gained the wisdom of fifty years.
Most people, particularly women, cower at old age because it
means their youth has been spent. Yet they state their mission is to “gain
higher visibility for women in [their] age group and to reshape the way [they]
are viewed by today’s culture.”
The Red Hats band together with an attitude that says, “We’re
going to keep on living (and keep on living it up!) until we’re under ground,
and we’ll dress outlandishly while doing it!” Which is unassailably cool, and I
admire their courage.
I may still poke fun at their atrocious choice in headwear,
but I think those Red Hats are onto something.