• About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe for Free
  • Download App
  • Anti-Racism Summit
SWHELPER
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Mental Health
  • Politics
  • Tech
  • LGBTQ
  • Disability
Find/Post Jobs
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Mental Health
  • Politics
  • Tech
  • LGBTQ
  • Disability
No Result
View All Result
SWHELPER
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Who Is Old?

Alice FisherbyAlice Fisher
April 5, 2016
in Politics, Social Work
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin
Edith Connors 77 year old body builder
Edith Connors 77-year-old body builder

Who is old?  What does old mean?  Who decides that you are old?  Who do you identify as old?

Is it age?  Do you automatically become old the day you start collecting your social security? Some people collect at 62, some at 66, and some at 70.  Or, maybe it’s the year you become eligible. Can it be the day you retire from your career job?  Or maybe it’s the day you become a grandparent.

My mother-in-law didn’t become old until she turned 90, while my mother decided she was old at 80. They self-selected when to be old. Meanwhile, my best friend who has a form of rheumatoid arthritis self-identified as old when she was only 55. So, it’s possible that old is when you need assistance with certain activities and realize that you are slowing in your performance. A 72 year old friend mentioned to me, “I can’t believe how much longer it’s taking me to walk to the office each morning. I used to be such a fast walker.“  Is she now old?

I am certain that my grandchildren identify me as old, while my peers tell me how young I look. Maybe that’s the answer. Old, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. My husband tells me I look as young as the day we met, which can hardly be true since that was over fifty years ago. Maybe we are old when our hair turns gray. Yet, I have a friend who went prematurely gray in her thirties.

Another answer might be that we are old when we start receiving senior discounts. I do have a senior Metro-Card that entitles me to use New York City’s subways and buses at half price. I have an AARP card, and I now go to movies and visit museums for senior admission rates.

Do all cultures and societies see “old” similarly?  Eastern cultures tend to value age and equate age with wisdom. Unfortunately, Western cultures put a higher value on youth. This causes many of the aging people I know to go to great lengths to appear younger than their actual age. I have an 85 year old constituent who came to see me one day carrying a large umbrella. “Is it raining?” I asked. “Oh, no”, she replied, but I refuse to walk with a cane.”

We, here in the United States and other Western industrialized counties, are experiencing a longevity boom. People here may not be perceived as old until they are in their 70s or maybe even 80s. Yet, in third world countries that are ravaged by war and hunger, people are perceived as old at a much younger age.

So, old may be determined by the place you live or the era in which you were born. My grandmother at 70 was an old woman. I am 68 and would not be described as an “old woman” by most people I know. Old can also be determined by one’s environment or the circumstances under which one lives. Those who live in poverty and those who are marginalized may not have access to good health care or healthy food. People who live in these minority communities are old sooner than those from middle and upper class majority neighborhoods.

So, it seems then that old is a socially constructed category. What old is to me may be different than what old means to you.

There is much truth in the adage, “Once you’ve seen one old person, you’ve seen one old person.” We are aging from the moment we are born; and the more we age,–the more we experience our own individual lives–the more diverse we become. Our individual lived experiences then may be the only key to determining when each of us is old.

Are you old?  If so, when did you become old?  If you are not old, what makes you see someone else as old?  Why do you think a society’s definition of old is important?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
Previous Post

Ways Millennials Can Step Up their Game and What We All Can Learn

Next Post

Where is the Voice of the Child?

Alice Fisher

Alice Fisher

As a political social worker, Alice is deeply interested in best practices in community building and an advocate for improving services and quality of life for older adults. She developed and runs Senator Liz Krueger’s Roundtable for Boomers & Seniors.She is particularly interested in the challenges of longevity in today’s ageing society, and Alice holds an M.S.W. from Hunter College School of Social Work.

Related Posts

Hate Sites Using the Wider Abortion Argument to Spread Racism and Extremism
Health

Hate Sites Using the Wider Abortion Argument to Spread Racism and Extremism

June 29, 2022
The Positive Impact Social Work Can Have on Public Education
Education

The Positive Impact Social Work Can Have on Public Education

June 24, 2022
Insult to Injury: U.S. Workers Without Paid Sick Leave Suffer from Mental Distress
Education

How Social Workers Can Practice Trauma-Informed Care

June 18, 2022
In A New World, Social Work Leads the Way
Criminal Justice

In A New World, Social Work Leads the Way

June 14, 2022
How American Cities Can Promote Urban Agriculture
Environmental Justice

How American Cities Can Promote Urban Agriculture

November 24, 2021
How Environmental Policies Can Promote Economic Growth
Environmental Justice

How Environmental Policies Can Promote Economic Growth

June 24, 2022
Next Post
Where is the Voice of the Child?

Where is the Voice of the Child?

The Skyrocketing Costs of Mental Health Care

The Skyrocketing Costs of Mental Health Care

Leave Comment
What Can Be Done To Solve The Foster Care Crisis?

Ending the Therapeutic Relationship: Creative Termination Activities

June 24, 2022
What Feelings Are In Your Heart: An Art Therapy Exercise for Kids

What Feelings Are In Your Heart: An Art Therapy Exercise for Kids

June 19, 2022
Want to Work With Children: 5 Skills and Qualities You Should Be Working On

Want to Work With Children: 5 Skills and Qualities You Should Be Working On

April 7, 2019
What Is a Genogram and Why Do I Need to Learn How to Create One?

What Is a Genogram and Why Do I Need to Learn How to Create One?

April 7, 2019
ADVERTISEMENT

Good Things Happen When
You Subscribe

Subscribe
  • What Can Be Done To Solve The Foster Care Crisis?

    Ending the Therapeutic Relationship: Creative Termination Activities

    77 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Want to Work With Children: 5 Skills and Qualities You Should Be Working On

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What Feelings Are In Your Heart: An Art Therapy Exercise for Kids

    390 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What Is a Genogram and Why Do I Need to Learn How to Create One?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Top Twelve Grand Challenges Facing Society Today

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram TikTok
SWHELPER

  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe for Free
  • Download App
  • Anti-Racism Summit

© 2022 Social Work Helper, PBC

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • News
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Politics
    • Criminal Justice
    • Social Work
    • Education
    • LGBTQ
    • Poverty
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Virtual Summit
  • Career Center
  • Download App
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart

© 2022 Social Work Helper, PBC

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
Sign In with Google
Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
Sign Up with Google
Sign Up with Linked In
OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Good Things Happen When
You Subscribe

Subscribe
Go to mobile version
 

    %d bloggers like this: