JackieLikesVariety
9th February 2023, 07:47 AM
Recently a friend was telling me about Becca Levy's book about agism (https://becca-levy.com/) which I have not yet read.
Then I saw a post from Wolf (https://www.giraffeboards.com/showpost.php?p=1789377&postcount=56874) making light of how stupid/awful old people are in a way that would not have seemed OK if it were about any other group*.
maybe it's unfair to call out Wolf Larsen when I have done the same thing - mocking the old, mostly with regard to myself and the decline I see in some of my abilities, etc. :lawn: but I hope he doesn't mind because that post so perfectly shows what we really think in this country.
you are old and you suck, just be glad we let you hang around to mock instead of sending you all out on an iceburg so we don't have to support you anymore.
but it's not ok to make fun of old people because agism has real consequences and I'm going to try and stop doing it.
if you don't want to read the book, there is a short excerpt in The Harvard Gazette How America's Agism Hurts, Shortens the lives of Elderly. (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/08/how-americas-ageism-hurts-shortens-lives-of-elderly/)
from the link:
The Japanese treated old age as something to enjoy, a fact of being alive, rather than something to fear or resent.
and it's not an accident they live longer, women have less hotflashes, etc in menopause and their older men have higher testosterone levels than those in Europe.
meanwhile in the US
Everywhere I looked, in TV shows, in fairy tales, and online, old age was treated as though it meant forgetfulness, weakness, and decline.
many of the cognitive and physiological challenges we think of as linked to growing old — like hearing loss and cardiovascular disease — are also the products of age beliefs absorbed from our social surroundings.
TLDR being soaked in this culture where age is not respected hurts us.
*obese people? I guess that's another thread
Then I saw a post from Wolf (https://www.giraffeboards.com/showpost.php?p=1789377&postcount=56874) making light of how stupid/awful old people are in a way that would not have seemed OK if it were about any other group*.
maybe it's unfair to call out Wolf Larsen when I have done the same thing - mocking the old, mostly with regard to myself and the decline I see in some of my abilities, etc. :lawn: but I hope he doesn't mind because that post so perfectly shows what we really think in this country.
you are old and you suck, just be glad we let you hang around to mock instead of sending you all out on an iceburg so we don't have to support you anymore.
but it's not ok to make fun of old people because agism has real consequences and I'm going to try and stop doing it.
if you don't want to read the book, there is a short excerpt in The Harvard Gazette How America's Agism Hurts, Shortens the lives of Elderly. (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/08/how-americas-ageism-hurts-shortens-lives-of-elderly/)
from the link:
The Japanese treated old age as something to enjoy, a fact of being alive, rather than something to fear or resent.
and it's not an accident they live longer, women have less hotflashes, etc in menopause and their older men have higher testosterone levels than those in Europe.
meanwhile in the US
Everywhere I looked, in TV shows, in fairy tales, and online, old age was treated as though it meant forgetfulness, weakness, and decline.
many of the cognitive and physiological challenges we think of as linked to growing old — like hearing loss and cardiovascular disease — are also the products of age beliefs absorbed from our social surroundings.
TLDR being soaked in this culture where age is not respected hurts us.
*obese people? I guess that's another thread