{"id":29,"date":"2008-01-27T17:22:21","date_gmt":"2008-01-28T00:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/?p=29"},"modified":"2008-03-27T09:26:48","modified_gmt":"2008-03-27T17:26:48","slug":"an-elder-by-any-other-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/an-elder-by-any-other-name\/","title":{"rendered":"An Elder By Any Other Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

We older people get all\u00a0worked up\u00a0about\u00a0what you\u00a0call us.\u00a0 You think you’re<\/em> having trouble defining us?\u00a0 So are we.\u00a0 Maybe we’re sensitive about words because\u00a0we’re still attempting to define ourselves for ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0We haven’t always been this age.\u00a0Everything old\u00a0is new to us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s understandable that some people who are celebrating an\u00a0important milestone that begins the last part of life, and that brings physical changes, and that implies fewer choices – would not want to acknowledge it with a name.\u00a0 It’s as if refusing to agree on descriptions will allow old people to keep from actually getting old.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We –\u00a0and I include this oldest generation-and-a-half to take in pre-Boomers – were in the forefront of movements in the 60’s and early 70’s that were intended to do away with labels.\u00a0 We fought the good fight but eventually none of us could stop people from calling us whatever they choose.\u00a0 So we are sometimes called Senior or\u00a0Old or\u00a0Elderly or\u00a0Aging.\u00a0 Add to this\u00a0the men who say “Call me anything but Grandpa”\u00a0and the women who say “I love my grandchildren, but don’t call me Grandma.”<\/p>\n

I’m not personally offended by any of these words.\u00a0 They’re not epithets.\u00a0 They’re mostly attempts to label who we are for the purpose of selling us stuff, marketing being the all-powerful force.\u00a0 Whether the products are\u00a0 cars or\u00a0political candidates,\u00a0a great deal of money changes hands according to how many of us fit into a specific demographic.<\/p>\n

I don’t mind being identified with\u00a0the\u00a0older millions when it comes to advertising.\u00a0 I\u00a0made a living in advertising for\u00a0years and I understand\u00a0target\u00a0audiences, but\u00a0I also know of\u00a0major ways in which advertisers and ad agencies are wrong in their perceptions about how elders think and feel and what we really want.\u00a0 They’re turning old into a cliche and nobody wants to be a cliche.\u00a0 There will be a price to pay someday for these oversights, I\u00a0hope.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0older I get, \u00a0the more I resist being perceived merely as a\u00a0person of a certain\u00a0age.\u00a0I know all the ways in which I am nothing like my peers with whom I have in common only the year of\u00a0my\u00a0birth.\u00a0 I give up trying to come up with a word that will please everyone.\u00a0 From now on I’m taking it case by case.\u00a0\u00a0If a\u00a0word makes me wince, I\u00a0consider the intent.\u00a0 If I feel it’s dismissive, I speak up.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0care very much about language that might diminish in any way the respect that should be paid to this very special time of life.\u00a0 It’s our responsibility\u00a0to set our\u00a0standards high.\u00a0 The words we’re willing to accept inform the ways we’re willing to be\u00a0treated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00d3<\/span><\/span> By Anita Garner <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We older people get all\u00a0worked up\u00a0about\u00a0what you\u00a0call us.\u00a0 You think you’re having trouble defining us?\u00a0 So are we.\u00a0 Maybe we’re sensitive about words because\u00a0we’re still attempting to define ourselves for ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0We haven’t always been this age.\u00a0Everything old\u00a0is new to us.\u00a0 It’s understandable that some people who are celebrating an\u00a0important milestone that begins the last part … Continue reading “An Elder By Any Other Name”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,45,42,46,43],"class_list":["post-29","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aging-boomers","tag-baby-boom","tag-elder","tag-name-calling","tag-senior"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Elder By Any Other Name – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/an-elder-by-any-other-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Elder By Any Other Name – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We older people get all\u00a0worked up\u00a0about\u00a0what you\u00a0call us.\u00a0 You think you’re having trouble defining us?\u00a0 So are we.\u00a0 Maybe we’re sensitive about words because\u00a0we’re still attempting to define ourselves for ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0We haven’t always been this age.\u00a0Everything old\u00a0is new to us.\u00a0 It’s understandable that some people who are celebrating an\u00a0important milestone that begins the last part … Continue reading "An Elder By Any Other Name"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/an-elder-by-any-other-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-28T00:22:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-03-27T17:26:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anita Garner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anita Garner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/an-elder-by-any-other-name\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/an-elder-by-any-other-name\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anita Garner\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"headline\":\"An Elder By Any Other Name\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-28T00:22:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-03-27T17:26:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/an-elder-by-any-other-name\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":491,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"keywords\":[\"Aging. 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