If in a dozen or two years we are destined to become old, we will be the “new old”, an advanced generation that has less complexes and more humor. A well-known radio and TV presenter, music journalist and DJ talks about age, ageism and positive old age.
I sit in the salon, paint over my gray hair and think: “I’m fifty-one, I paint my hair twice a month, and it’s really expensive. Maybe quit? They say that the trend for gray hair has been outlined. I work on the radio, you can’t see me anyway. Husband loves. Not for the hair? But I paint anyway. Because without it, I look unkempt and older than my years.
Often rich «aunts» argue that in Russia there is no culture of caring for themselves, their bodies and faces. But I think we chronically don’t have the money for a culture of self-care. And often — desires and time. And the way many of our celebrities in their fifties reveal the concept of «ageism» makes my dyed hair stand on end.
Angry comments about appearance and expensive clothes, hateful epithets like “grandmother” and “old woman”, expressions from the series “where are you going, you will soon have menopause”, of course, are cruel. But this is not ageism.
Ageism is age discrimination. When after fifty you are not hired or hinted at an imminent departure
When hands drop so that it becomes not up to visiting beauty salons.
As a social phenomenon, ageism has two directions — up and down.
Young people are condescendingly polite to the authority of their elders (at best), and the elders do not trust the youth and do not consider their representatives to be authorities in any way.
And then there is the internal ageism and external. External — when you are sent «to the dustbin of history» by employers and / or your own children. Some need young professionals, others want you to sit with your grandchildren (it is believed that this is the default setting).
Inner ageism is directed at ourselves. When we ourselves begin to discriminate and limit ourselves: “Where should I go, I lived my life” or “Why dye my hair, I still don’t go anywhere, but it’s normal to sit in front of the TV.” And this is just not normal!
It’s our economic and patriarchal past that is to blame, when our grandmothers became real old women at fifty-four — and not from a good life. The consequences of wars, repressions, communal apartments, countless relocations and restructurings were very difficult.
I remember my grandmother at seventy-five: she was a gray-haired old woman who raised a bunch of children (at home) and a bunch of vegetables (in the country). Now I see my mother at the same age. She takes care of herself, drives a car and gives advice to her granddaughter. They hang out shopping together, go to the theater and to exhibitions.
Once, during a radio broadcast, my partner and I joked that the old women would listen to our chatter, rustling their rough heels on the parquet
And then for the first time I realized that I should be this old woman, literally ten years later.
But I decided that my heels after a pedicure would be smooth. And in general I will be a cheerful old woman! Which will make fun of itself and wear old sneakers instead of comfortable orthopedic shoes. And there will be many of us, more than young people, according to sociologists and anthropologists.
What to do with us? We are New Old! We are advanced from the beginning! And in ten years, we will have fewer complexes for any reason — from hair color to clothing style. After all, today we have a huge world of the Internet in our arsenal, where you can read, study, listen to music, follow fashion trends, express yourself through clothes and makeup. And don’t be afraid to be funny.