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.
A MAGICal Encounter
“Well, there is magic in the air!” My Lyft driver greeted me with enthusiasm. Her last ride had dropped off at the same terminal and door I was waiting at—a gig economy mini miracle. Little did she know MAGIC really was in the air for me. I had just landed from spending a week working […]
Can We Please Stop Calling It AGING!
In order to shed the shackles of the “Calamitous Cs” and not be sucked in by the declining negative rhetoric of aging, why not replace them with the three positive “Constructive Cs”? Especially if you’re serious about living a life of continuous incline.
The Wow Factor
There’s a strange pattern here. We’re surprised by young people who display what we consider to be the kind of sophistication and wisdom that we associate only with experience and age, as well as by elders who display the physical stamina, prowess, and productivity of people decades younger. It’s as if to be young means only to be strong and to be old means only to be wise.
It’s Time to Believe Older Adults, Too
Just as we are encouraged to believe those who report experiences of sexual harassment, so, too, should we believe older adults who report elder harassment in any of its forms. Ageism, too, is a spectrum of abuse. All of this is to say that harassment in any form, toward any person, and for any reason should not be justified or tolerated.
We Need an Age Friendly Revolution
A powerful way to counter divisive rhetoric and demagoguery coming out of Washington, D.C., is to do something unexpected — start an Age Friendly city revolution.
Re-Branding Dementia Advocacy
I think it’s time to challenge a bit of the language being used to advocate for people living with dementia. The negative effects of stigmatizing language are huge, and our language choices are often the places where such stigma starts or ends.
A New Perspective on Age
The mission of Age In America is to demonstrate that we are all essentially the same–human and interesting and imperfect; to dispel the myths and stereotypes about aging; and to help eliminate discrimination of people based on age.
