Recently, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with author Gail Sheehy at the “What’s Next Boomer Summit.” During her keynote address and in conversation following, she addressed the disparity between the boomer genders.

For starters, Gail admits that she wanted to write a man’s version of Sex and the Seasoned Woman (her big book on boomer females) but that the publishers turned her down “because those men don’t read books about themselves the way women do” (paraphrased…).

She did share her findings, however, which I found fascinating—and which resonated. Women, you see, grabbed hold of power in their careers later than men—and many also took time-outs or at least slower tracks along the way as primary caregivers to their children. The men, uninterrupted, have been pushing hard for four or more decades and are ready to relax. At the same exact moment that boomer women are just kicking into high-gear, the men are wanting to kick-back. The irony is that when the men do kick back, they lose their primary ego-building identity—their job—and with their wives running out to run various organizations (paid and unpaid) they can find themselves feeling adrift: not the “two of us together” they’d imagined.

There’s an upside, however. Disengaged from the power currents, men are freer to explore their creative sides. Witness the growth of boomer garage bands (including my husband’s “Still Crazy”)—and publishing industry alert: read more books.

Carol Orsborn