Posted on 02/24/2019 1:00:06 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
WASHINGTON, DC – You might recall the films, The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains, and The Invisible Woman, starring Virginia Bruce. These works of fiction entertained audiences in the 1940s. But, it’s the 21st Century and it turns out invisible people really exist.
“They live among us in the guise of senior citizens,” according to Dan Weber, president of AMAC, a powerful senior advocacy organization.
San Francisco-based psychologist and psychotherapist Tamara McClintock Greenberg put it this way in an article for Psychology Today: “Why people are increasingly treated as if they’re invisible as they age (more prevalent it seems, for women) is curious, though perhaps not surprising. We live in a youth-fixated culture where people are afraid to age and to be vulnerable to growing older; where ideals about attractiveness are oriented around those with young, healthy bodies.”
Groups such as AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens, exist and thrive, in part, because the fast growing population of senior citizens in the U.S. is determined to be seen and heard, says Weber. “We are alive and well and, particularly when it comes to ageism, we are not going to take it anymore.”
Weber is not alone in his quest to eradicate the scourge of ageism in America. Author Ashton Applewhite, for example, has devoted herself to what might be called a movement to exposing and eliminating discrimination based on age. Among other things, she created a Web site, Old School, to be an ageism research resource.
“The messages are everywhere that old is not as good as young. We are ageist any time we make an assumption about a person or a group of people on the basis of how old they appear to be . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at amac.us ...
It restarts early, too. I was out running on a summer day when I was about 45. A teen girl in a convertible ignored the fact that I was in the crosswalk and almost ran me down. I yelled “Hey” at her and she yelled back “F you, old man.” Not only are you invisible, they want to wipe you out to boot.
Your post reminded me of the scene in “Fried Green Tomatoes” with Kathy Bates where she has been cut off from a parking space by some younger women who tell her “Face it, lady, we’re younger and faster!” Bates’ character responds by ramming their car multiple times as they watch, dumbfounded. Bates walks away, saying “Face it, girls, I’m older and I have more insurance.”
I’m definitely old, and I rather enjoy the fact that people completely ignore me.
It just means more time for reading, good movies, self-reflection, and sexual fantasies.
LOL. Never saw that movie. I’ll add it to my list.
I’ve stuffed up in life often enough to have gained a modicum of wisdom and mostly I’ve learnt to stay out of things so not to interfere so when I do have something to say being treated as irrelevant is pretty annoying especially when people will ask for help to get out of the mess I tried to keep them from. Maybe I did it too I really don’t know but it is amazing how some of today’s young adults filter out the things they don’t want to hear and still manage to blame everyone else
I’ve been reading this stupid article all my life. Things change as you get older. Life changes as you get older. You inevitably begin to move from centerstage. Your personal universe begins to shrink. Deal with it. Life has seasons. Spring is Spring, Winter is Winter...
We love AMAC and when we used to get AARP literature we’d take their SASE, stuff it full of AMAC literature and stick it in the mail. It took a couple years, but we don’t AARP junk any more.
When we approached Medicare age, AMAC hooked us up with a wonderful agent who helped us through that nightmare, and shopped around for a great supplemental plan for us. That was five years ago, and we still use him for a resource when we have questions.
“Face it, lady, we’re younger and faster!” Bates’ character responds”
You left out the part where she says, “We have better insurance.” That was excellent.
“You left out the part...”
Really???? The last line of my post:
“Bates walks away, saying “Face it, girls, I’m older and I have more insurance.””
Is that gone or am I the only one seeing it???
I guess you missed reading to the end of the post where it said:
“Bates walks away, saying “Face it, girls, I’m older and I have more insurance.”
The great singer/songwriter Amy Rigby set this whole article to music years ago in her song, “Invisible.”
I don’t remember who said it but “As I get older I realize I am more interesting than most people I meet”.
You’re old and need your eyes checked.
I’m going to run in a zigzag pattern now and evade fire.
AMAC,,,
I need advice like that.
Just turned 64 and retirement is
Intimidating.
Talked to a “Financial Adviser”
and he is about Stocks and Bonds.
I need “Nuts and Bolts “
Guidelines.
I’ll check for a Website
Thanks!
Just when we thought we were finally getting rid of old people, they are banding together and will soon be lecturing us and telling us how things used to be “back then”.
Ideals? Attractiveness is based on a biological reaction to the other’s suitability for reproduction. As we age this fact becomes harder on women than men, true, but it remains a fact.
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