Tackling the ageist attitude to the “old” in old age

This article first appeared in June 2022 edition of Comet.

For a recent edition of The Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Marlene Krasovitsky – the director of the EveryAGE Counts Campaign – wrote an incisive opinion piece about the “sheer power” which is invoked by the societal prejudice against old age that is inherent in ageist jokes. But joking aside, there’s another and more subtle but equally powerful source of ageism, and that’s in the continuing stigmatisation and often outright rejection of the word “old” regarding those of us who have, undeniably, lived for a long time. And, remarkably, this can come from old people ourselves, as well as from organisations dedicated to our wellbeing.  

Coincidentally, striking examples of each appeared in other recent editions of that same newspaper. Example One appeared on March 28. This happened to be on my 80th birthday, and yes – thank you – I’m delighted to have succeeded in growing to this great old age. But on that day, there was an article about Dr Ruth Wilson who’s achieved the far grander age of 90. In it, she was quoted as saying the following about gaining a PhD in her 80s: “[It] gave me a lot of strength to feel ‘well, I’m not really entering into old age. I’m entering into the best years of my life.’”

What a spectacular endorsement of old age it would have been if – instead – she’d proudly declared: “I’m entering into old age and they’re the best years of my life”.

Example Two comes from Anglicare’s (probably well-intentioned) avoidance of the word “old” on the cover of its otherwise excellent supplement of advice clearly targeting older people, and enclosed in the Saturday’s Herald of April 9, with its illustration of a cheerful white-haired couple, and sub-headed as being aimed at “Seniors living and support”. But its prominent title is the single word Ageless.

Google “ageless” and you’ll find that it means any or all of the following “not growing old, or not showing the effects of age, or never looking old, or never appearing to grow old”. How completely absurd it would be if those meanings replaced that single word, and thereby clearly excluded those of us who are growing old, and quite possibly showing some effects of age, and clear signs of time, while many of us who are happily active have no desire for that to be regarded as being in a perpetual state of youth. Or agelessness.

We older people, and our support organisations, should – therefore – be giving more thought to how we can contribute to changing societal attitudes to what it means to be old, both by calling it what it is, and by highlighting the fact that – actually – it is a most fortunate achievement to be able to live into and make the most of a great old age.

Anne Ring ©2022