"Elderly" Woman Posts on Her Blog

Our local “big city” paper reports on accidents and incidents – and I’ve noticed that they refer to people in these articles who are in the 60 plus age group as “elderly”. Headlines such as “Elderly Woman Injured in Car Crash” go on to tell about the 64 year old woman who was hurt. Since when is someone in their 60’s “elderly”?

Perhaps being in my 60s and not feeling elderly is the reason I find this offensive. And many 60 + year olds in the news sure don’t act and often don’t look “elderly”. Take Jane Fonda for instance, in her 70s and she is still hot – good looking and active! Meryl Streep – born in 1949 and still vital. How about Harrison Ford who is now 70, Jeff Bridges, also born in 1949, Robert De Niro born in 1943, Sigourney Weaver born in 1949,  Diane Keaton (one of my favorite actresses) born in 1946, Goldie Hawn, 1945,  Glenn Close, 1947,and  Michael Douglas 1944. None of these actors would be described as “elderly” when written about in the paper. So why are the papers using the term?

The entire age thing can be very depressing when you think about it. As I grow older, I find my outlook on life has changed. When I was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s, life stretched out in front of me and while I looked at my future, I felt it was a long way off. I must say that my 50s were the best time (so far) in my life. I felt good, was happy with my life, had hit my stride in my work, and generally was enjoying living. My 60s are also good but now I’m retired and have a different focus on life. It’s an attitude rather than a “no wrinkles” thing. If you don’t feel OLD, I don’t think you act or think you are old. I do find I pay attention to my body and try not to obsess over a little ach or pain. How would I describe myself? Retired and happy, sure as hell not “elderly”!  I goggled “elderly” and found it is both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective it means “quite old; past middle age”. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that in human beings, elderly is the final stage of the normal life span. It also adds to that “old age is frequently defined as 60 or 65 years of age”. Sorry – I still feel the term elderly is not acceptable. Older is an acceptable word so I’m older – but then again we all are older than we were yesterday. I’d even go with “Senior” or” Senior Citizen”. I guess it’s a matter of how you perceive yourself rather than how others perceive you. So please DON’T call me elderly!