Wave of older women taking power, rejecting invisibility

When Susan Zirinsky takes over CBS News in March, she will be the first woman to hold the job. She will also be the oldest person to assume the role, at 66.

Her appointment was announced just days after Nancy Pelosi, 78, was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives — making her the most powerful elected woman in U.S. history — and Rep. Maxine Waters became the first woman and African-American to lead the Financial Services Committee, at age 79.News of Zirinsky’s ascension broke on the same evening that 71-year-old Glenn Close bested four younger women to win the Golden Globe for best actress.

It seems that older women, long invisible or shunned aside, are experiencing an unfamiliar sensation: power.

There are more women over 50 in this country today than at any other point in history, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those women are healthier, working longer, and have more income than previous generations.

That is creating modest but real progress in their visibility and stature.

“Age — don’t worry about it — it’s a state of mind,” Zirinsky said on

Tuesday when asked about the effect of her age on her new job. “I have so much energy that my staff did an intervention when I tried a Red Bull.”

Men, of course, have led major organizations well into their seventh and even eighth decades, retaining their power and prominence. But the #MeToo movement has toppled some high-profile males, from 77-year-old Charlie Rose to Les Moonves, 69, who was ousted as head of CBS after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, creating unexpected openings for