Photo source: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/03/17/call-better-services-culturally-diverse-aged
Everyone grows
older, but the process of aging for women in particular can be exceedingly
stressful. As a young woman who is surrounded by aging women, I often wonder
why friends will speak of their constant fears of wrinkles, or, why older women
will always make compliments to each other, such as “you look so young,” or,
“you haven’t aged a bit.” Why is there such a large obsession, especially for
women, with fighting against time? Firstly, I looked towards the endless
advertisements that surround me. While watching television or the internet, I
was guaranteed, almost hourly, to find an advertisement selling a product that
will keep women looking just as they did when they were in their twenties. From
a young age, women will see these advertisements and assume that the goal as they
age is to appear as though nothing is actually occurring. These advertisements
also almost always use white cisgender women models, creating a popular culture
that not only tells women they must buy any product that they can to stay young
and “beautiful,” but also one which perpetuates the racism and transphobia
inherent in mainstream beauty standards.
Public
discourse on the aging of women is often biological, continuing the
characterization of women as biological and medical objects (Rosotsky &
Travis 2000). Menopause, though rarely mentioned in much of popular media, is
often the mode through which people speak of the aging women’s body.
Representation is mostly negative, which has actually been proven to lead to
greater physical distress for the women that endure it (“Menopause Around the
World” 2014). Western and American cultural stance on menopause disregards the
positive outlook that indigenous, south Asian, and many other cultures have
surrounding this hormonal shift, excluding other cultural views from the conversation
(“Menopause Around the World” 2014). I
never understood the western ideal of youth, it often leads to the perspective
of life’s processes as a decline rather than the more logical positive incline that
many other cultures hold dear. This focus on youthfulness also creates a
culture in which elderly are not welcome and are often seen as “ruining the
fun.” The emphasis on menopause in particular also ultimately excludes many
transgender women who may not endure menopause, showing that the discourse
surrounding the aging of women must shift away from the purely negative and
physical.
If we are
to focus on the physical aging of women it should be to improve healthcare
access to all women. My grandmother is so grateful to have doctors who care
about her wellbeing and are always available when an emergency occurs. However,
our family is aware of the privilege we have in the medical team that supports
her. Hispanic and black women are shown to have significantly less access to
healthcare than non-Hispanic white women (Kosiak, Sang, & Correa-De-Araujo
2006). The gender and racial wage gap also plays a large part in retirement
funds and savings, with women overall at a large disparity to men, but women of
color (“Racial Gender Wage Gap” 2016) and transgender women/of color (“The Gay
and Transgender Wage Gap” 2012) at a much more significant monetary
disadvantage. The less income a woman has accumulated over her lifespan, the
less she has to spend during retirement (“The Lifelong Effects” 2016). This
means she could not afford making many changes to her home to stay actively
mobile and may not be able to afford very vital aspects of medical care.
I realized recently that although growing
older may always have particular struggles both psychologically and physically,
the culture that surrounds us is largely responsible for the stressfully
negative view that is associated with aging. These gender and racial
disparities are only a result of racism, transphobia, and sexism that exists in
our culture and require immediate large policy and cultural shifts to work
towards improvement. I only hope that these improvements can be made as soon as
possible so the next generation of women need not dread what’s to come. I hope
that a positive outlook for the elderly can help our conversation starters
shift away from, “you look great!” to something along the lines of, “you're a
powerful woman, just as you were decades ago.”
References:
Call for better services for culturally-diverse aged | SBS
... (n.d.). Retrieved October
23, 2016, from http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/03/17/call-better-services-culturally-diverse-aged
The Gay and Transgender Wage Gap | Center for American ...
(n.d.). Retrieved
October 23,
2016, from
/the-gay-and-transgender-wage-gap/
Kosiak, B., Sangl, J., & Correa-De-Araujo, R. (2006).
Quality of health care for older
women: What
do we know? Women's Health Issues, 16(2), 89-99.
doi:10.1016/j.whi.2005.01.003
The Lifelong Effects Of The Gender Wage Gap. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 23, 2016,
8b4d7049c64c
Menopause Around the World | Women in Balance Institute.
(n.d.). Retrieved
October 23,
2016, from
https://womeninbalance.org/2014/09/17/menopause-around-the-world/
Menopause and sexuality: Ageism and sexism unite.
Rostosky, Sharon S.; Travis, Cheryl
Brown
Travis, Cheryl Brown (Ed); White,
Jacquelyn W. (Ed). (2000). Sexuality, society, and feminism., (pp. 181-209).
Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, viii, 432 pp.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10345-008
Racial, gender wage gaps persist in U.S. despite some ...
(n.d.). Retrieved October 23,
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