An article by Nancy J. Osgood

An article by Nancy J. Osgood entitled 'Society Does Not Respect the Elderly' in the book 'An Aging Population' states:

The glorification of youth and development of the youth cult in America began in the nineteenth century and grew rapidly in the twentieth, and it now flourishes in our present atmosphere of narcissism. Youth is associated with vitality, activity, and freshness. To be young is to be fully alive, exciting, attractive, healthy, and vigorous. Old age, on the other hand, is associated with decline, disease, disability, and death rather than wisdom, inner peace, and other positive qualities.Psychological factors influence ageism in our culture. The youth cult grows out of a profound fear of growing old.

Through the ages, few fears have cut as deeply into the human soul as the fear of aging. Americans especially have a stark terror of growing old. Old age is associated with loss of independence, physical disease, mental decline, loss of youthful vitality and beauty, and finally death, and old people are reminders of our own mortality. Because many people have limited contact with healthy, vibrant old people and lack accurate knowledge about the aging process, their fear escalates.

Ageism is manifested through stereotypes and myths about old people and aging. In medical circles older patients are stereotyped as 'crocks' or 'vegetables'. Other common terms for older people are old fuddy dutty, little old lady, and dirty old man. Old people are thought of as being fit for little else but sitting idly in a rocking chair. Older women are referred to as old witch, old bag, and old biddy. Old men are stereotyped as old geezers, old goats, and old codgers. Common stereotypes of aging view the old as out to pasture, over the hill, and all washed up.


The Western heritage in literature is replete with negative images of old age, beginning with the medieval works.


In American culture several mechanisms perpetuate and communicate ageist images, stereotypes, and myths: common aphorisms, literature, the media, and humour. Aphorisms about aging and older people permeate American culture. Some of the most common include: 'You can't trust anyone over forty'; 'You're only as old as you feel'; and 'Age before beauty.' These common sayings convey the idea that age is something to be denied or feared and allude to imagined losses accompanying the aging process.

The Western heritage in literature is replete with negative images of old age, beginning with the medieval works. The foolish lust of older women is described in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio. The physical ugliness and disgusting behaviour of the old were frequently highlighted in fairy tales such as 'Hansel and Gretel' and 'Snow White,' where old women are portrayed as wicked witches.

The emptiness of old age is a major theme in American literature. In the poem 'Gerontion,' T.S. Eliot provides a description of the empty misery of an old man: 'a dry brain in a dry season.' In his works Eliot describes old age as an empty wasteland. In every culture humour conveys attitudes about the aged. In our own society these attitudes are expressed through jokes, cartoons, comic strips, and birthday cards.
articlesource:living.oneindia.in

Old age homes - a journey in search of joy and tranquility

By: Sharon Supriya

"As I entered one of the biggest old age home in the city, I saw one old man gazing at a single beautiful bright flower amidst many on the ground. He was so engrossed with its beauty that he would smile at it and shake his head. I wanted to pat his back or rather peep in his heart to read the message of the flower, but I just opted silence and stood just beside him. After few minutes I saw a tear rolling down his cheek. I was perplexed was he happy or sad? What was the message from the flower that made him sink so deep in his thought? What did it remind him? Was he gazing at the flower or his own life?

I looked at his eye they were burning red with agony and pain. He had just realized that his life is just like this bright flower. Many would come and glorify the new bloomed flower in the dawn, but after a day or two when its colours had withered to darkness and it cannot stand firm with its head held high, the same people would walk unnoticed without even heeding its cry."

Life seems to be meaningless. Isn't it ? An individual slogs all through his life for the family and with a view that a day would come when he can just relax in his armchair and read his favorite book and tell tales of his youthful days to the younger generation. He will term those days as "And they lived happily ever after". Alas! he forgets that the day of his rest is someone else's busy day and the loved one won't even owe a second for him.

Vicissitudes of life have contributed to the misery of elders with none to depend on, no means of income, no emotional security making them destitute with a question, about how to carry on with their lives. The growing intolerance among youth, coupled with their inability to adjust with the elderly, is just one of the prime reasons for the rise in the number of old age homes in India.

The fading joint family system
in India and other innumerable factors have given rise to west-inspired phenomena of old age homes. Surprising cost of living and scanty return on savings have almost pushed these senior citizens on roads. Such an act has triggered the security net of the helpless, which has almost vanished in many states in India with Kerala topping the list.

They have started walking out of their own home in search of a journey that promises peace, joy and celebration of life with a group of people who share the same boat of life (the wrecked one). However not may rather none of them receive it. Young people with vigor and strength forget that its not too late for them to be in the same shoes. Its just one life that we all have,why can't we be a support to the needy who is not a stranger? Why cant we build a world of love that shelters all, irrespective of age? Why can't life just begin after retirement, than end?

If you respect the one who has moulded you into a fine being, then just hold their hand and lead them straight into your home. They don't need your money or luxury, they just need a shoulder to lean. Help them lead the last few days of their life that doesn't trigger loneliness.
article source: living.oneindia.in

Oldage is a Gift

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body - the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror, but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avant-garde on my patio. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 am, and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love.. I will I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the bikini set. They, too, will get old!

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten, and I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. I can say 'no', and mean it. I can say 'yes', and mean it

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day

Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles.