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https://theconversation.com/older-women-are-doing-remarkable-things-its-time-for-the-putdowns-to-end-199500>
"It’s not easy to claim being an old woman. To start with, how can I be 75 when
I feel about 40? And isn’t it shameful to be old when youth is valued? People
proudly parrot statements such as, “I’m growing older but not getting old”
(meaning, “How terrible to be old!”). I even heard that line quoted approvingly
by one of the middle-aged hosts of the recent Australia Day Award ceremony.
Then there are shop assistants who serve an old person by asking, “What can I
do for you, young lady/man?” (i.e. “I see that you’re old and will mock it by
calling you young”). When author Jane Caro wrote about her husband’s angry
response to this example of ageism it created quite a Twitter storm. Can’t you
take a joke? But, as Caro replied, “Benign ageism, hostile ageism. One often
turns into the other and both make the recipients feel diminished”.
Benign ageism applies as much to the stereotyping of young people (wasting
their money on smashed avocado), as it does to the old.
Ageism is bad enough, but it’s often compounded by sexism. It is humiliating
for a boy to be told he’s playing like a girl but even worse for a man
expressing doubts or concerns to be called an old woman. The stereotype of the
old woman is anxious, dependent, useless, and a burden – if she isn’t a nasty,
bitter old witch. Dismissing old women in this way renders them invisible
because they are considered of no use to society.
Women experience a sense of invisibility from late middle age: being overlooked
in shops, ignored in restaurants. People walk into me in the street as though
I’m incorporeal. Of course, it can be liberating to be ignored, not to be
constantly assessed for one’s looks as young women are, and I try to make as
much lemonade as possible from life’s lemons. Nevertheless, I’d prefer not to
be completely disregarded.
When Jane Fisher and I interviewed Baby Boom women (born 1946 to 1964), we
found that they wanted to be treated with respect, which doesn’t seem like much
to ask. They said that respect includes requiring we all challenge – and refuse
to perpetuate – these harmful stereotypes.
Ageist stereotypes reinforce age-based discrimination. An Australian survey of
more than 2000 people aged over 60 found experiences of ageism have an adverse
effect on mental health, prompting depression and anxiety."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
