I think that society often confuses the words "elderly" or "old" with the words "frail" and "irrelevant." Ann's grandmother may be old, but she's about as far from frail or irrelevant as it gets -- and I imagine she gets plenty of respect!!
But I think once an older person starts to become frail, society starts writing him or her off, as though they no longer matter, they no longer have anything to contribute. And in a culture where that exists, I think it's natural for people to not want to appear to be old. It's almost a math equation:
If O=I and O=G, G is negative.
(As long as old=irrelevant and old=gray, gray will be seen as negative.)
When we see young people adding gray streaks to their hair because it makes them look cool, then we'll know we're getting somewhere!
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I think that society often confuses the words "elderly" or "old" with the words "frail" and "irrelevant." Ann's grandmother may be old, but she's about as far from frail or irrelevant as it gets -- and I imagine she gets plenty of respect!!
But I think once an older person starts to become frail, society starts writing him or her off, as though they no longer matter, they no longer have anything to contribute. And in a culture where that exists, I think it's natural for people to not want to appear to be old. It's almost a math equation:
If O=I and O=G, G is negative.
(As long as old=irrelevant and old=gray, gray will be seen as negative.)
When we see young people adding gray streaks to their hair because it makes them look cool, then we'll know we're getting somewhere!
June 19, 2009 - 9:55amThis Comment
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