Blue Thong Founder, MaryJo Wallo on Blog Talk Radio

Did you miss Blue Thong Founder, MaryJo Wallo on the Real Women on Health Radio Show? No worries. Click on the link below to listen to the show.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/realwomenonhealth/2011/09/28/post-menopausal-sex-unspoken-conversations

Who is the style original -- Bette Midler or Lady Gaga?

Recent news has Bette Midler, 65, venting her ire at Lady Gaga, 25, for stealing her style. The specific style in question? Wearing a mermaid outfit in a wheelchair. For performance purposes, don't worry; it wasn't to shop at the local mall. But that's kind of the issue: For fun or profit? Identiity theft or homage? We might enjoy taking a tip or two from a celebrity's style for our everyday life. But the intellectual property aspect comes in on whether there's money involved. Or some combination of creativity/originality.

I'm not sure @ladygaga knows that I've performed my mermaid in a wheelchair for millions of people — and many of them are still alive," Bette Midler tweeted.

A host of clichés come up: Steal from the best… There's nothing new under the sun… Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… Although she never mentioned it, the Huffington Post reports that Midler was also miffed at Madonna for stealing her spot as the "queen of vulgar" back in the '80s. And Madonna, 52, was miffed at Lady Gaga for stealing her style (and "Born This Way" music.) It gets dizzying. The other dark fear it all this brings up is what I call All About Eve syndrome – the fear that younger women are coming to supplant your position at work, with your significant other, etc. And it's just this dynamic that has midlife women wary of younger ones. And it's just this dynamic that keeps women, who are now over 50% of the population, in a subjunctive role. Organizations like the Blue Thong Society seek to blur these lines. The group formed when Mary Jo Wallo realized she wasn't ready for a "red hat" at 50. Midlife women are vibrant and involved now and she wanted her organization to reflect that. They opened it up to younger women to teach them that getting old is nothing to be afraid of. And the underlying lesson is that if you don't feel threatened, you can be allies. "Younger women are going to be where we are, and it would behoove them to help and support us so they have somewhere to go," said a friend of mine matter-of-factly. So are the Emmy Awards secretly the Karma Awards? Both Midler and Gaga are nominated for performance awards – Bette Midler for The Showgirl Must Go On and Lady Gaga for her Monster Ball Tour: at Madison Square Garden. Perhaps not surprisingly, Bette Midler did the mature thing. Good for her for setting the record straight, then letting the wisdom of her years shine through:

Let's drink this over at the Emmys in September. Fabulous mermaids can coexist!" she said.

That's pretty stylish. Have you ever stolen someone's style? Or paid homage to it?

GUTSY Woman and a Vision

Ready to strut your stuff in a Blue Thong?

What do you get when you mix five thousand women and counting; two hundred national chapters and counting; and energy that doesn’t quit? You get a powerful organization that has fun while doing good.

Meet Mary Jo Wallo, a woman for these times. She runs an investment firm in San Diego, so who could be more perfect to count the growth and increases as her dream is coming true.

Here’s the back story: Mary Jo turned fifty. Some of us reach that mid-century mark and run for botox; others ignore the day and go about business as usual (hoping no one will notice). Mary Jo, an extrovert and lover of fun decided to have a “wham-bang” party. She set the standard for how to turn fifty and love it.

Weeks later when another friend hit that mark they were discussing what it means to get older. Some conversations end when people go their separate ways. Not this time.

Did you ever wonder how ideas become reality? They need a Mary Jo to say “I get it”! That talk led from the color red to the color blue. It led from skimpy underwear to beach shoes. It led to The Blue Thong Society!

East coasters call those rubbery things we wear on our feet at the pool or to walk over hot sand to the ocean flip flops. In the west they are thongs, just like the sexy underwear. Pick your image; it really is up to you. Underneath is the meaning that matters.

The Blue Thong Society is for women of any age who want to have fun. It is for women who want to do good work in their communities. It is for women who want to change the image of growing older.

I recently joined a local chapter and this is an idea whose time has come. Women helping women and making their communities the best they can be. Who says we can’t be the giving people we are meant to be and still have fun in the process.

Just ask Mary Jo Wallo!!!

Want more information on The Blue Thong Society, visit www.bluethongsociety.com or call 888-675-6886.

For member benefits in the The Blue Thong Society, check here. For chapters in your area, here. Or to start a chapter.

Fight Frump in an Organized Fashion

Ready to strut your stuff in a Blue Thong?

It all started on her 50th birthday, according to Mary Jo Wallo, the founder of the Blue Thong Society. "A bunch of us were having cocktails to celebrate," she recalls and someone gave her a red hat as a gag gift (referring to the Red Hat Society). "But I'm not ready for a red hat," she wailed. Another friend suggested a red thong was more in keeping with her style.

And an idea was born. Wallo is a bit of a powerhouse — she runs a successful insurance and investment business in San Diego – so she's not one to let a good idea go to waste.

"The thing is," she said, "we all have a mindset that's about 20–30 years younger." And, to her credit, her body looks to be about that as well. She confesses that she works about 80 hours a week, but always finds time to work out first thing in the morning, whether it's lifting weights or focusing on another pleasure and passion: surfing.

All these aspects, combined with friends she has like herself, made her reject the notion that over-50 had to mean frumpy.

So, the red thong morphed into a blue one – "blue represents friendship," Wallo says, plus it reminds her of the ocean which is relaxing as well as expansive and always moving – and from there The Blue Thong Society was born.

The concept combines social club with community activism; she says they modeled it after the Clinton Global Initiative. With a dash of Junior League as well, I'd say. Because Wallo says, "We wanted to make it meaningful" and she points out that that's what women do so well.

It's socializing with a social conscious," Wallo says.

How it works: individual chapters sprout up in different cities and the group has 3 months to decide what local charity they're going to contribute to, whether it be a local homeless shelter, food bank, habitat for humanity, Planned Parenthood, whatever. "They can change it up too," she says.

There's a melting pot of members, Wallo says proudly, articulating another objective:

We want to send a message to young women that it's OK to get older!"

Wallo has tirelessly devoted herself to growing the Blue Thong Society to the point where there are thousands of chapters all over the country and even internationally. "We're in Africa, Pago Pago, Costa Rica..."  And she's formed strategic partnerships with the American Red Cross among several other organizations to both offer help and expand opportunities for members.

Wallo became a grandmother just last year, and turned 56 on March 12. Her birthday was celebrated, along with the Society's 5th anniversary, on board their now annual cruise (begun last year), which entails workshops with partners like Prudential and the Leads Club, as well as lots of socializing, of course, "Two days in Cabo and a private beach party," Wallo enthuses.

Blue hair? No way. Blue thong? Any day. You simply cannot be frumpy wearing a blue thong.

For member benefits in the The Blue Thong Society, check here. For chapters in your area, here. Or to start a chapter.

Red hats meet blue thongs
March 30th, 2009

Move over Red Hat Society. The Blue Thong Society is trying to squeeze in among Baby Boomer women.

As the Red Hatters, which started 10 years ago, attracted throngs of middle-aged women, the Blue Thongers refuse to sit back and just let age happen. Read More