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.