Unit I

            The assigned texts this week highlighted the present double standard in American society. It bears mentioning that I find myself feeling a sense of anxiety as I read through the texts. I don’t think about aging on a day to day basis, but when I do – it does get a little scary. Why is this? Well, I do think that society’s stigma on “old” does have a lot to do with it. I wouldn’t say that I am afraid of getting older because I will look old, I am afraid of getting old because it would mean that my time here is limited. As I type it out, I know how stupid that sounds. Of course my time is limited. For all I know, I could walk outside of this building and get hit by a RIPTA (knock on wood). I do believe that the way American only speaks of “old” in a hush; we ignore the inevitable in every way. We do not think about it and we push it away until the inevitable becomes a reality - until we are finally old.  Why should getting old mean an end of anything. Sure, maybe the body cannot do everything that it once could, but that in itself could open doors to a whole new set of activities and hobbies.

As I continued read through the assignments, I gained more of an understanding as to why our contemporary culture is afraid of aging, and more specifically why women are so afraid of it. Susan Sontag began her article speaking about the anxiety a woman feels when someone asks her, “how old are you.” I thought that this was funny, because this is a question I fear myself; not because I don’t want people to know my age, but because I look like I am about 14 years old. It’s a horrible question, and when I explain to people that I am 22, their response is usually the same. “You’ll be happy for that some day.” Well, if after 35 I start re-dreading the question, I fear it is one I’ll just have to come to terms with hating. According to Sontag, “being physically attractive counts more women than it does men.” For women, beauty is associated with youthfulness. A midlife crisis for a woman is more likely to be associated with an aging appearance, wrinkles, and the loss of sexual feeling. In men, a midlife crisis may arise when he realizes that he has not been as successful as he had once dreamed. That being said, our society offers fewer rewards for aging woman than it does to men. Aging women feel less beautiful and sexually empowered. Therefore, they are less likely to attract a younger man. In contrast, older men do not embody this principle. We often see older men having affairs with younger, “more attractive” woman. Although I have only touched on a portion of the double standard of aging between men and women, I believe that this is one that is chiefly important.
            In Chetna Narayan’s, “Is There a Double Standard of Aging?” Older Men and Women and Ageism,” I was encouraged to read that the younger generation has a positive outlook on the older generation. The article explained that a study was conducted that explored young people’s attitudes towards elder adults ages 75-80.  More specifically, the study compared attitudes towards elder men against those towards older women.  The questionnaire asked students to rate qualities on a scale. Some of the characteristics included: cheerful/crabby, fair/unfair, generous/frugal, humble/arrogant, and grateful/ungrateful. According to Narayan, the outcomes were interesting. The results found that younger people have a better perception of older men and woman than expected. It was even more interesting that the students put women in a more positive light over men.  Narayan did mention that the fact that the group answering the questionnaire was composed of psychology students. I think that it would be very interesting to carry out a similar questionnaire with a random group of students, perhaps across the university. I am curious to see if the results would vary.

Unit II

The readings this week opened me up to a side of feminism I have never fully considered. The content of the first article, “Age Matters”, held true to what I have read and seen in so many of my classes. While speaking generally about women, my mind never goes to the older generation of women – my mind always considers “women” to be a female of middle age. And while I have taken many women studies classes, I haven’t been taught enough to change this particular way of thinking. The article explains that most feminist consider age but rarely old people. It says that most feminists exclude old people in both their choice of research questions and in their theoretical approaches. Often we will see the word “older” rather than “old” to avoid the negativity that the word “old” brings about. In doing so, we fuel the stigma in American culture that being old is a negative thing. It’s even considered an insult to call someone old. This same article discusses successful aging. Someone who ages successfully in our society is one that remains fit, young looking, healthy, and mobile. When you put all of these aspects together, aren’t you just saying that this person is seemingly remaining young?  “Successful aging assumes a “feminine” aspect in the ideal that the good elderly woman be healthy, slim, discreetly sexy, and independent. (Ruddick 1999). Our society just holds fear in ageing. We associate it with failure. The more that I write on this, the more ridiculous it sounds. Why do we resist, push off and devalue something that is so naturally beautiful and human? Per usual, I will put some of the blame on the media popular culture. Celebrities are constantly striving to age successfully - though they are   pushed by public criticism and judgment to uphold that image.

In comparing women and men and ageing, I have found there to be certain differences between the two. The media tends to portray the aging man as a suave character, who seems to only get better with time. This particular archetype is well dressed, and usually has a young and attractive girlfriend. There are so many instances of older men dating much younger, attractive girls. The roles are rarely reversed. Because women already struggle to be seen as powerful, an older woman in our society is viewed as a particularly helpless, weak being. In Margaret Cruickshank’s “Learning to be Old”, she talks about women in particular giving up the ability to drive. The older generation clings to the ability to drive, because if they gave up that ability they would be giving up the ability to serve themselves. I was interested to read that only 54% of our communities have no publicly funded senior transportation, and the rest have limited systems. It just seems to be a vicious cycle – those who give up the ability to drive are stuck in the home, sitting around all day, probably coming to terms that they are “just getting old” and should stop doing anything active.

I am interested to learn when being old in America got its negative connotation. Feminists must begin considering all ages when it comes to general conversations, theories and studies. The neglect adds to the stigma that getting old is a shameful process, and that we should avoid it as long as possible. I think that it is time to change the stereotype.  

GWS Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Margaret MacDonald, but you can all just call me Maggie. I am a Senior here at URI studying Journalism. If all goes well, I will be graduating this spring – yikes! Despite the four years of Spanish that I took in high school, I can only speak English. I have been fortunate enough to have taken quite a few Women’s Studies classes over the years. I have taken WMS 150, Women’s Professional Development, Women in Health, and WMS 351. (I have the sense that I am missing some – the numbers eventually just start to blend together.)  After a diversity of Women’s Studies classes, I am a proud self-proclaimed feminist. I am taking this course because I have found WMS classes to be a healthy diversion from my journalism classes. They are all so completely relevant and the classes make me think about important topics and information that I need to be thinking about. Ah, and now for the hard questions. In my spare time I like to do Yoga, nap, and read. My favorite musician is Taylor Swift. Picking a favorite movie is tough. When asked, my answer is usually a movie that I have just watched. That being said, my favorite movie is Silver Linings Playbook. When it comes to TV shows, I’ll pretty much watch anything besides that new show ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Child’. My favorite website to waste time on is Pinterest. I could spend hours upon hours on Pinterest pinning. Another website I spend too much time on is YouTube. Sadly, most of the time I am only watching videos of things like funny dogs and animals. So, I think it is only appropriate if I post a video of some funny dogs sliding down a hill. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLKMliEub4c