Posted on 02/15/2024 4:22:18 PM PST by Libloather
Age matters, but so do words.
While pundits debate President Biden’s cognitive fitness for office and the possible motivations behind prejudicial language contained in special counsel Robert K. Hur’s classified documents report, the rest of us have a different problem: the “elderly.”
Older people themselves aren’t the issue, but the way we talk about them is. We must change the language our society uses to describe older adults.
Read more: Calmes: Will that special counsel report light a fire under Biden the Elderly?
Among the ageist stereotypes in Hur’s characterization of Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the word “elderly” leaps out as most cringe-worthy in its power to conjure images of frailty and helplessness.
Many of us who study aging avoid “senior citizen” and “elderly,” which can reinforce negative stereotypes that isolate old people as a different and separate social group.
Sociologist Arlie Hochschild calls the seemingly respectable "senior citizen" an "unfortunate phrase suggesting a large boy scout with a gold watch.” But just because “elderly” is so ubiquitous doesn’t make it appropriate or innocuous.
Ageism remains a widely accepted prejudice. I love late-night talk shows, yet a sampling of hosts’ recent monologues reveals rampant jokes targeted toward old people (yes, I’m looking at you, Stephen Colbert). Ageism defies political persuasion, as one can see in Nikki Haley’s “grumpy old men” campaign, which takes cheap shots at Biden's and Donald Trump’s ages. Picking on older people doesn’t seem to stir the same type of outrage as insults about other social identities such as race, ethnicity and gender.
Read more: Opinion: Biden, Feinstein, Trump — how do we know when our leaders are too old?
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
As usual Yahoo carrying water for the regime again.
If trump was the oldest we would be seeing none stop articles about why old age is an issue.
Lying hacks and quislings all of them.
Old people are cranky and set in their ways. They’re S L O W and in my way. They’re indecisive at the supermarket or a restaurant. They’re clogging up the hospitals and medical facilities. At least that’s how I saw it when i was young. Now I’m old. I’m cranky and set in my ways and S L O W . . . .
The “age” thing could be considered “age discrimination.” Biden’s problem is not his age number, it’s his current IQ number. He has dementia… that is the issue.
So the next time you chuckle at a quip or a stereotype about an older person, consider this: Depending on your age, you’re either stoking the flames of self-loathing or laughing at your future self. Either way, the joke is on you.
Opinion: Why do we talk about older people so negatively?
_______________________________________________________
When older people like Biden, Hillary and Pelosi put their old frail decrepit selves on public display - then yeah. We’re gonna talk negatively.
Yet trump is in that same age category. There might be negative talk about him, but it’s not age related. Gee, what a shock.
In my experience, the older one gets, the more one reverts back to a pre-adult mentality, a reversal in maturity. This principally manifests in self-absorption and self-centeredness.
I say this as someone who has reached retirement age. I find a lot of the "elderly" to be, not to put too fine a point on it, selfish @ssholes. Small wonder the younger generations are desperately waiting for the Boomer generation to just die off already. For the most part, I sympathize with them.
My wife and I love to tell “old people” jokes on each other—it is fun.
People need to toughen up a little—and get a better sense of humor as well.
The past few days we have been taking turns with Joe Biden imitations:
“Dear I have three important things to tell you.
One: Uh um em yeah uh.
Two: Yeah that
Three: I forgot one.”
Lol.
Your post is only half correct.
I am not selfish but I will admit I am mean and nasty.
:-)
Age is a spectrum...like Youth, Elderly behavior depends on the maturity, IQ and health of the individual.
I’m not as fast as I was now that I’m 75 but I can still get 10 out of 10 in the black at the pistol range. And I can still hit a watermelon on the 300 yd range with my 4-10 power scope on my 30.06.
I thought these were my most favorable traits.
At my age I find myself thinking more about the hereafter. I go into a room and say, “Now what did I come in here after?”
Back in 1996, Bob Dole was running for president. He was on a temporary platform for a speech, he leaned over a railing to shake hands, the railing broke away, and he fell. He was not hurt. The fake news went on and on about how this was proof that he was too old to be president.
At the time, Dole was 73, if my math is correct. Now they are saying that Biden is perfectly fit and fine for another term at 81.
Look at Yahoo trying to act like it’s about “older people” and not about Biden. Lol. It’s going to be a wacky year.
I am over seventy and I hate slow old people in front of me holding up the line—just like I did when I was twenty.
Lol.
Age matters, but so do words.
Yep, the proper word will help...............
Older people themselves aren’t the issue, but the way we talk about them is.
I communicate with my middle finger—never failed yet.
:-)
GET OFF MY LAWN
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.