You may recall a blog we published at the beginning of the primaries. After one of Obama’s first big wins, the blog noted: “Hillary and her boomer supporters may be holding back tears, but from the perspective of adult development experts, baby boomers should be congratulating themselves for a job well done. Obama is surging forward, fueled by the excitement of newly-empowered youth who are seizing the moment. From the social scientist’s point of view, this is a sign of a healthy society regenerating itself organically. This is not a tragedy for the boomers. Rather, this is their vindication.”

In brief, I noted that from the adult development expert’s point of view, it is the parental generation’s role to empower youth and to begin the process of stepping aside. (Of course, many boomer women would have preferred that the stepping aside part take place, say, eight years from now—after two terms of Hillary—but timing aside, the dynamics of generativity hold true.)

But aside from feeling good about their role in raising empowered offspring, is there any really good news in Hillary’s loss about the future of the generation of boomer women, itself?

To explore the answer to this question, permit me to take a side-trip to an interview with Carly Simon that ran in “USA Today” on May 14. While celebrating the release of a well-received album, Carly admits to the reporter “I accept the fact that I’m neurotic…I don’t feel I’ve come to terms with my pain, or that it’s gone away.” She does have the support of her circle of friends. “They see and hear my tears, and my joy and laughter, and my frustration and guilt, my despair and hope.”

What does this have to do with Hillary? Let’s begin by noting that Carly is 62 and Hillary is 61. Let’s continue by noting that even in Gail Sheehy’s seminal book “Passages”, the chapter on adult development about women over 50 was titled “The Serene 60’s.” She now laughs at this, but the truth is that even as recently as a couple of years ago, the chapter title was totally in keeping with the widely-held notion that once a woman passes menopause, she basically had two options available to her. She could be serene (but marginalized) or in a slow, sad decline. In either case, she was generally assumed to be passively surrendering her place at the table and quietly embracing invisibility as her destiny.

Now, think about Hillary and Carly. There is nothing, serene, passive or invisible about either of these role models. They are stirred up, controversial, kicking, creating, crying, demanding and in every way imaginable, being “difficult.”

This is exciting for marketers! In fact, it’s as groundbreaking in its own way as had Hillary been elected president. For the fact is that people (boomer women and otherwise) who are kicking up the most dirt are also the ones most likely to buy products, change brands, start trends and otherwise play a role in both the marketplace of ideas and of goods and services.

Market researchers know that individuals are most likely to try a new product, make a change in their life requiring new expenditures, support services and so on, at a moment of crisis. Hillary and Carly’s turbulent behavior and difficult attitudes put the final nail in the coffin on the out-dated notion of the serene 60-year-old knitting on the porch (and wearing the same brand of shoes, or even the very same shoes, she’d purchased decades ago.)

Women who are acting up, neurotic, putting out albums, running for President and losing not as graciously as some would wish, are apt role models for our time. As Carly concludes: “My heart has been so terribly broken over the course of my life. Like everyone’s, I’m sure…But I certainly do feel stronger as a result.”

And most pertinent to the marketer, Carly and Hillary’s refusal to go quietly into the dark night: put simply, it’s good for business.

Carol Orsborn