It's only my opinion, but I think that "old" is just something socially constructed and psychologically imagined: in other words, not an objective term, and furthermore, not a useful categorization. I feel like I should write about this opinion now, having just turned 28 years old, still young enough (I hope) to question derogatory notions of "old" without people dismissing me because of my own age.
If there's one thing hospice volunteering has taught me, is that a person has the potential to lead an interested, engaged, and vibrant life up until the very last moments. Furthermore, age has little to do with the intensity of that interest, engagement or vibrancy. I have had patients in their 50s who disconnect with the world, barely able to walk, not making attempts to meet new people or learn new things. And I've had patients in their 100s who still try new activities they've never tried before, making new friends day after day. So what's the point, then, of labeling someone as "old," when numbers aren't the best correlate for quality of life?
And no, I'm not bringing this up to defend John McCain, but it does seem to be the case that I'm hearing more and more derogatory jokes about age these days, beyond the presidential race. I remember seeing a talk by
Professor Howie Giles (who has done a lot of work on sociolinguistics and ageism), where he cited research showing that a person who simply
joked about getting older was more likely to, after the joke, walk across a room slower,
i.e., more like an "old" person, than otherwise.*
So, like race, gender, and socioeconomic class, a joke is obviously not "just a joke"! Might it impact workforce productivity if we spend half of a employee's
working life joking about how "old" (and therefore useless) they are?
If it might, then seriously, can't we just joke about something else?
I guess I just have a bone to pick about stupid black balloons and "over the hill" jokes about people who turn 40, or sociologists and journalists who group populations into age groups and label the "50+" group the "old" group. Medical treatments are improving, people are living longer, and with the economy the way it is, people are also working longer. I think that "old" is still a useful concept, but not in most of the ways it gets applied to people in today's society.
*EDIT: Luckily for me, Malcolm Gladwell sites the same study that (I think) Howie Giles was referencing, although it's about priming, and not specifically about joke telling: John A. Bargh, Mark Chen, and Lara Burrows, "Automaticity of Social Behavior: Direct Effects of Trait Construct and Stereotype Activation on Action," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 71, no. 2 (1996): 230-244.
Comments (8)
Happy Birthday!
And I totally agree with what you say here. Our culture is totally youth obsessed, even when it attempts to embrace age. Am I supposed to believe that it's natural for a "middle aged" woman to look like Kim Cattrall?
I think this election is fascinating, and much of it because it's so much on the fronts of which people find themselves being prejudiced against. There were so many -ism's over the last few months, it kind of blew my mind; Hillary railing about sexism, Obama about racism, and then more subtly nuanced but equally prejudicial jabs about John McCain being 72 - ageism laid out kind of nakedly. It's so interesting to see politics busting down doors and getting people to talk about their different beliefs regarding race, sex, and age, that regardless of what happens in the next four years, at least we're all addressing the idea that maybe we shouldn't make broad, sweeping generalizations about these things when you have fine examples of each competing for the most important job in the nation.
That said, I think you're right about age being a concept that influences how people behave. Some people seem to embrace the growing old process in a negative way - maybe limp a little more pronouncedly,complain a little more about the process, and they always seem to be a little more sickly, a little less alive, than the ones who reject the idea of the mind softening as the body ages. Wouldn't it be interesting to see the lives of two elderly people played out entirely side by side - one still vibrant, interested and engaged, and one disengaged, acting more decrepit, and see what kind of children, youths, and adults they were? I imagine the more vibrant elderly people were more vibrant younger people as well, but you never know.
Ha, you whippersnappers talking about "old"... you know what "old" is? It's when your body's recovery ain't as good as it used to be. Every ding lingers, every extra pound hangs around, and you're stiff in all the wrong places.
Oh, well, at least my mind isn't as old as it used to be. Man, i was sure one crotchety old man when i was a kid.
@rone - It's funny you say that, because I was definitely more crotchety at age 16 than I am now. WAY more! But my body definitely wasn't as stiff as it is these days, so yes, there's that.
I agree that a lot of it is about learning new things. And, I think it's easier to keep learning new things when a person isn't distracted b/c of their poor physical condition.
Is it possible to stay pretty fit as one gets older? Look at it this way-- Randy Courture become a UFC champion at 40 years old. And that stuff is crazy demanding... I think daily life is quite a bit less demanding =)
***applause*** (from a 40 year-old)
I'm not terribly crazy about Choke so far, but Chuck is generally all about the ending. So I'm holding out on my judgment till I know who is real, who isn't, and who's pretending to be something entirely different than what they are.
This is my fourth foray into CP and I'm not sure I like. I have friends who adore him, and while I think his style is definitely distinct, I don't know that I particularly enjoy it.
See also: really strange
See also: a little redundant
See also: really easy to imitate in an unflattering way :)
I did however love the movie Fight Club, so maybe he's like Stephen King and his creativity translates better in characters onscreen when there isn't quite so much babble going on. Also, Edward Norton and Brad Pitt? Certainly didn't hurt the movie.
RYC: I'm confused. Doesn't the text at the top of the book thing talk about how those are all books people get to make them look 'smart' and 'well-rounded'? Also, I've been REALLY wanting to read the Unbearable Lightness of Being. Granted, I have a whole LIST of things I've been really wanting to read, but I'll move that one up on the list!