Women's Portraits

Wanda W.

Wanda´s advice for successful ageing: “Stay curious, meet challenges and work hard to have a family you can rely on!”

Wanda W. is 71 years old. Our interview took place in her house in a small town in Lower Austria. Wanda is obviously not really used to talking about herself, because our talk requires a lot of interposed questions.

Wanda was born in the outskirts of Vienna. She does not hold too good memories of her childhood; her family was poor working class who had to try to make ends meet. (“At home we had to save, save, save. We had lentils and dumplings cooked in water three times a week”). Her only positive memory of this time is that of an uncle, who owned a tennis court and gave her tennis lessons, which she enjoyed very much, and which was rather unusual at the time.

After school she initially wanted to become a kindergarten teacher, but the training would have been much too expensive for her parents. She applied for vocational training as a hairdresser but had to wait for a whole year for an apprenticeship position. She worked for a very strict boss (“ he would even verbally abuse his own mother when she tried to help me”), but she liked her profession and took part in several hairdressing competitions.

When Wanda got married at the age of 21, she gave up her work. Her husband worked as a labourer in a cement plant in a small town in Lower Austria. She moved into her in-law´s house, where she never felt really welcome. She gave birth to six children (“One every 15 months”), two of whom died in early childhood. The education of her children and her household chores made a full-time employment impossible. To contribute a small amount of money to the family income, Wanda worked as a temporary employee at the local hairdressers and as a waitress during weekends. During this time of her life she also had to start nursing her in-laws.

To Wanda this was the hardest period of her life.

Like many women at that time she was a member of the local consumer cooperative society that had had a long tradition in industrial areas all over Europe. In 1975, one of the local authorities asked her if she was interested in volunteering for the so called “members´ council”, because they thought she could do some good.  She had to obtain her husband´s approval before accepting the offer because in his opinion the family always had to come first.

During her voluntary work in the cooperative she took part in various courses, which were a new experience of lifelong learning to her. She did not get any money but the courses were for free and she received compensation for her travel expenses.

Her successful work for the members of the cooperative also meant the start of her political career. In due course she was asked by representatives of the local social democratic party to become candidate for the municipal council elections.

Once more, her husband gave his consent.

In a male- dominated municipal council (there were only two female members at that time) she had to undergo heated discussions to convince her male colleagues to have her ideas and suggestions be transferred into reality (“Well, men are different, they tend to act on facts but sometimes emotions are required even in political decisions. They would mock and misrepresent some of the things I said so I had to stand up for myself. I said what I had to say…and they would have to deal with It.”). Due to her courage and “common sense”, four years later, at the age of 55, she was appointed secretary for social affairs in the municipal council. In this function she was, among other things responsible for the distribution of public housing units. She is proud of the fact that the community still holds her in high regards for her decisions which were always driven by humanity and never only by party political principles.

Wanda W. was elected vice- mayor of the small town before retiring at the age of 63 . She draws a small old-age pension from her political function.

After retirement – with the children out of the house – she knew she had to take up some other occupation or otherwise she would get bored. She had not had  time for any hobbies since her schooldays. (“I did have hobbies, yes, but that was back in my youth, like playing handball or tennis or doing handicrafts, but I never stuck with them, so you can`t really call them hobbies”).

She engaged herself in voluntary work once more, this time with “Volkshilfe”, one of the three biggest NGOs in Austria, which is one of the leading organisations for mobile home care. Wanda is now responsible for the distribution of sick beds, wheel chairs and other domestic home care devices and has to be in touch with the work of the mobile nurses.

When asked if she would go for some other political function, she definitely declines: “No more, oh no, one feels drained after a while, I don´t want this anymore, I´ve done my part.” On the other hand Wanda is never bored – she has got a big family, a house and garden, all to be cared for and looked after.

In the near future Wanda wants to quit all her positions and wants to consecrate her life to her grandchildren and to painting, an interest that she has been longing to set into reality for a long time.

She does not feel any regrets regarding her life: “No, I think I´ve always handled things right, … but sometimes I think it always depends on the people you meet, maybe things would have been different with a different husband at a different time, Maybe more, maybe less, who knows…”?

When asked about aspirations for her future, Wanda seems really content with her present life situation: “Nothing, nothing, I´m fine and I never have been better. What can I say? You see, my mother used to say: Du musst Dich strecken nach der Decken “ (you have to reach for the ceiling) and this is what I do.

Wanda´s advice for successful ageing: “Stay curious, meet challenges and work hard to have a family you can rely on!”

Elisabeth Rigal (Interview), Julia Pührer (Translation)