MANILA, Philippines - Whoever they are?mother, grandmother, aunt, work associate or neighbor?what distinguishes them is their getting a second wind in their old age, pushing them to pursue life with renewed vigor, and excelling in all they do.

They?re found in all cultures throughout history, but are often unheralded. Yet many of them wield great power, providing wise counsel to entire clans, communities, even nations and empires. I immediately think of Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of US President Franklin Roosevelt, who in her 60s chaired the committee that drafted and pushed for the UN?s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948.

Nature favors females with better survival rates, so among the elderly, you?ll inevitably find more women and they?re generally stronger than the lolos, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. The men?including those who have been on top of the political or corporate totem pole?seem almost like tamed lions even as the elderly lioness becomes more assertive, sometimes even aggressive.

One explanation for this development is hormones. All of us, male or female, produce both ?male? and ?female? hormones throughout our life, but the proportions vary in one?s lifetime. Men generally produce more testosterone throughout life, but the levels drop with age, and maybe, hormone experts say, this is why they mellow. Women on the other hand, produce more ?female? hormones like estrogen throughout most of their life, but the production level drops with menopause. In the meantime, their testosterone levels, while low, manage to kick in to produce grannies with a louder growl or, in Filipino, with more asim.

Asim. In English it sounds almost funny, to still be ?sour,? but to have ?asim? means to have that punch, that elan, that joie de vivre and zest for life.

More than hormones though, I think there?s a configuration of social and cultural forces working to create the Super Lola. The Philippines may be patriarchal, but like many other Southeast Asian countries, it is also very matricentric. Our women are able to create and maintain spaces for themselves even when they?re young. The space to negotiate increases with age, in large part because their children would have grown, freeing them from many domestic responsibilities. Mind you, they don?t let go of their domestic empires; in fact, I?d dare suggest most of our clans are actually matriarchal, controlled by an elderly woman or an informal council of lolas.

There?s more happening outside the domestic sphere. Because our society does allow women relative freedom of movement compared to many other Asian societies, our lolas now go out to explore new worlds, from ballroom dancing to building new businesses to civic engagement. This semester, I had in one of my graduate classes on psychological anthropology, a 69-year-old lola, doing her Ph.D.

I use ?lola? liberally, to include even unmarried women, even the Catholic religious. We all know of the spinster aunt, who may not have been tied down to children of her own, and yet end up supporting one or more of her nephews and nieces. The stereotyped cranky ?old maid? is precisely that, a stereotype; in reality, many of these spinster aunts age even more gracefully than their married sisters, and come to their own as matriarchs.

There?s a ?lola economy? out there waiting to be exploited, with elderly upper-class women having more free time and disposable income. Hairstylist Ricky Reyes saw this early, which was why he had those billboards showing an elegant Gloria Romero with a caption that says it all: ?Ganda ng Lola Mo,? reminding the nation?s lolas that they?re entitled to splurge on themselves, in the parlor and beyond.

I don?t want you to think though of lolas spending all their money on cosmetic surgery and dancing instructors, or of power-hungry empress dowagers clawing their way to the top. The most powerful, and beautiful, elderly women are those who pour their hearts into working for others. Publisher Eugenia Apostol may have long retired from the Inquirer but she remains active, speaking out against corrupt politicians and raising funds for scholarships. ?Lola O? Odette Alcantara is, as far as I?m concerned, the country?s foremost environmentalist.

Our own anthropology department at UP has been fortunate with Mary Racelis offering to teach one new subject each semester, and donating all her teaching materials to us. Recently she turned over a lifetime of writings and field notes to the Ateneo library.

I was initially reluctant to name some of these wonderful lolas because I?ve been lucky to have so many of them in my life, so my apologies for the others whom I have not named.

Younger women, in the Philippines and throughout the world, now have even more chances of joining the ranks of ?golden? women. Less shackled by traditional norms, they have been encouraged to be their own persons throughout their life. The golden years simply expands these opportunities. Consumerism will push hard to get to the lolas, dangling images of a cosmetically-altered bionic woman, but the truly wise will know that perfect ageing is more than skin-deep, nurtured only by a good, caring and brave heart.