THE RED HAT SOCIETY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE ROLE OF PLAY IN OLDER WOMEN’S LIVES Careen Mackay Yarnal, Pennsylvania State University Deborah Kerstetter, Pennsylvania State University Garry Chick, Pennsylvania State University Susan Hutchinson, Dalhousie University “I don’t want to flower; I just don’t want to fade.” Although play has long been espoused as beneficial for children, the idea of play as a leisure activity for older adults, and more specifically older women, is somehow seen as incongruous and contradictory. Play is not one of the “behaviors deemed to be appropriate for elderly people” (Wearing, 1995, p. 263). Nor is it compatible with how western socio-cultural mores dictate older women are “supposed to” live their later years (Fine, 1991; Sutton-Smith, 1996; Wearing, 1995). However, demographics point to a dramatic rise in the over 50 segment of the population. By the year 2030 one in four American women will be over the age of sixty-five (US Census Bureau, 2000). Many older women are faced with the challenge of “finding meaningful activities and experiences to fill this time” (Dupuis, 2003, p.1). The roles that leisure, and more specifically, play, have in life transitions and successful aging have received relatively scant attention by leisure researchers (Freysinger, 1999; Sutton-Smith, 1996; Wearing, 1995). The purpose of this study is to use the Red Hat Society as a context for exploring conceptual linkages between play and older women’s health. We have two research questions: 1) what does participation in the Red Hat Society look like in the context of older women’s lives and; 2) what does it mean to participate in the Red Hat Society? Context and Setting The Red Hat Society is an international organization of women, most over the age of 50. The Queen Mother, Sue Ellen Cooper, founded the society in 1999 after reading the poem “Warning.” The poem begins, “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go.” It continues, “[I shall] run my stick along the railings…make up for the sobriety of my youth…learn to spit.” With a mission to use age as a license to be “silly” and build relationships with other women over 50, the society has over 800,000 members in 35,000 local chapters in 22 countries. The group’s central tenets include, no rules, no jobs, no responsibilities, and no penalties. Individuals or groups of women form chapters. Although suggested chapter size is 20, many groups have membership in the hundreds. Each chapter registers with the Red Hat Society after self selecting a “fun” chapter name, like “Crones and Cronies,” “The Grapeful Red,” “Varicose Vixens” and “Purple Playmates.” Although there are no rules about where and when to meet, or who can be members, other than you must be female, there is a dress code. Members over 50 are encouraged to attend events wearing “full regalia” which includes red hats and purple outfits. Members under 50 wear pink hats and lavender outfits. Methods Data collection involved focus group interviews, participant observation, and informal individual interviews. Six focus groups were conducted with members from