Aging for Life
  • Home
  • Watch & Listen
    • Watch
    • Listen
  • Resources
    • Anti-ageism activism
    • Books
    • Ageing websites & organizations
    • Working & beyond
    • Living
    • Innovation engines
    • Death & dying
    • Videos
    • Articles
  • Activism
    • Child protection
    • Climate
    • Defense of democracy
    • Domestic violence
    • Feminism / Women's rights
    • Gun violence prevention
    • Immigration & refugee rights
    • Income inequality.
    • Mass incarceration
    • Racism
  • Talk to me
    • Blog
    • Other writing from me
    • Pitch in!
    • Hall of Shame
    • From You
  • Services
    • Conscious Aging
    • "Retirement" Planning
    • Consciousness Raising
  • DOWNLOAD "10 Rules"
  • Contact

​Blog.

(To find a specific post, click on the embedded caption and scroll down through the photos to read and comment.)

"Act your age." What does that mean?
Do You Want to Live to be 1,000?
Become an Old Person In Training.
Negative Stereotypes Kill.
What Is Ageism?
How Many Years of Life Experience Do You Have?
Get. Out. Of. Yourself.
Adults Age in Stages, Too.
A Telling Disconnect.
Are You a Denialist, a Realist, or an Enthusiast?
Am I Going to Get Wise?
How Old Would You Be if You Didn't Know How Old You Were?
Aging for Life: Talk to me

​“This Young Lady.” Pet Peeve #1. (Today.)

8/17/2018

0 Comments

 
OK, how many of you over, say, 40, have had someone refer to you as “young lady,” or “this young lady”? It’s supposed to be a compliment, so I always feel a little guilty for glaring at the person who says it. But grrr. Calling me “young lady” assumes that (a) I want to be a young lady, (b) the age I actually am is just unfortunate, and (c) I’m stupid enough to think I can pass as “young.”

And it’s sexist as well ageist. Imagine a young woman calling a 60-year-old man, “young man.” It never happens. Why? Because older men have more status than older women, so calling them “young” would be seen as diminishing rather than flattering. Imagining the roles reversed reveals just how infantilizing the interaction is.

How not to rip the person’s head off
So how to correct this interaction without ripping the head off some well-meaning but benighted person? How about, “Young? I left young in the dust years ago.” “Aww, thanks. But honestly, I love my age!” What would (do) you say?
Aging for Life: Talk to me
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Theresa Reid is the Executive Producer and host of "Aging for Life." 

    Archives

    July 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture



​Helping America become more informed, engaged, and conscious about aging.

Contact Us

  • Home
  • Watch & Listen
    • Watch
    • Listen
  • Resources
    • Anti-ageism activism
    • Books
    • Ageing websites & organizations
    • Working & beyond
    • Living
    • Innovation engines
    • Death & dying
    • Videos
    • Articles
  • Activism
    • Child protection
    • Climate
    • Defense of democracy
    • Domestic violence
    • Feminism / Women's rights
    • Gun violence prevention
    • Immigration & refugee rights
    • Income inequality.
    • Mass incarceration
    • Racism
  • Talk to me
    • Blog
    • Other writing from me
    • Pitch in!
    • Hall of Shame
    • From You
  • Services
    • Conscious Aging
    • "Retirement" Planning
    • Consciousness Raising
  • DOWNLOAD "10 Rules"
  • Contact