A terrific special section of July 25th’s New York Times was devoted to the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. There is no mention of age or ageism. It would be convenient to attribute that omission to the fact that most older people are not disabled (true but complicated). But you sure wouldn’t […]
Continue Reading
Media coverage of anything aging-related has long been characterized by alarmist hand-wringing, the most egregious example being the gray tsunami metaphor. Coverage of the pandemic is no exception, given that an estimated 80% of COVID19-related deaths are of people over 85, many occurring in nursing homes where the virus has run largely unchecked. Typical headlines read, “Ageism on the […]
Continue Reading
Why is coronavirus spreading across the US? Not because a virulent virus jumped from an animal into a human. Not because of China, or selfish youngers and clueless olders. COVID is spreading because the virus is new and contagious and because we live under a system that picks profit over people at every turn. The […]
Continue Reading
I don’t know which person in this video is more annoying, the college kid saying, “If I get corona, I get corona. I’m not going to let it stop me from partying,” or the 93-year-old dissing the partiers: “They think they know it all. They think they’re better than children were years ago.” Both are foolish. The […]
Continue Reading
Research shows that 75% of adults 60 and older — and 65% of those between ages 45 and 59 — say they believe their age puts them at a disadvantage when looking for work. It’s worse for women. According to a survey of 1,550 women–786 who were women of color–The Riveter reports that 58% of […]
Continue Reading
Changing the culture is hard, and it involves struggle. That struggle doesn’t start in a shopping cart, whether online or at Walmart. It starts between our ears, with the uncomfortable task of confronting our own, largely unconscious, age bias.
Continue Reading
It’s part of a larger trend that that New York Times has dubbed a “medical mystery of the best kind”: common diseases of aging are in retreat in the United States and some other wealthy countries.
Continue Reading
The goal of aging-simulation experiences — “to build empathy and awareness”—is commendable. But does donning an “aging suit” actually do that? Actual 85-year-olds, whose experiences are deeply variable and who are navigating the world despite a range of functional limitations, don’t think so.
Continue Reading
#ChangingAging - Explore what's next!