Ageist gay
LGBT People: Let’s Converse About Ageism
August 2013 | Robert Espinoza
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This article was originally written on The Huffington Send by Robert Espinoza, the Senior Director of Public Policy and Communications of Services & Representation for GLBT Elders (SAGE).
In a recent op-ed in The Advocate (“In Defense of Aging”), screenwriter and creator Jon Bernstein explores how gay men understand their hold aging, given their traumatic life experiences and the cultural obsession with beauty and youth. Bernstein invokes Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, a grim novel about the consequences of vanity, authored by a “middle-aged man” who died in “shame, poverty and exile after a series of public trials that punished him for his sexual orientation.”
To frame his overarching argument, Bernstein recalls the agony of living through the early years of the AIDS epidemic (“The grim reaper was forever lurking in the shadows”) and draws from this exposure to craft a hypothesis: gay men in this occasion period witnessed many of their friends die in the 1980s, later saw their friends endure as h
Yet Another Problem for Older Gay Men: “Internalized Homosexual Ageism”
It’s a commonplace to point out that, within the gay male people, youth—and the sexual attractiveness that supposedly comes with it—is a valuable currency. Obviously straight folks prize smooth skin and nubile bodies as well, but there’s a certain way in which the youth cult gets hyper-concentrated among gay guys. And as a new study shows, that concentration can contain a disturbingly negative impact on us as we inevitably age.
The paper, out this week in the journal Social Science & Medicine, looked at a sample of 312 same-sex attracted men with an average age of 61; a team of researchers led by Richard G. Wight asked the men the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with statements like “aging is especially hard for me because I am a gay man,” and “as I get older, I feel more invisible when I am with other gay men.” The researchers’ goal was to evaluate their hypothesis that “the particular overlap between internalized ageism and internalized homophobia among midlife and older gay men generates ‘internalized gay ageism.” In other words, in gay men, the wider overvaluing of youth in our identity mixes with standard homophobia
Gay Ageism?
I was recently accused of ageism. No, I didn’t rudely reject an octogenarian’s amorous advances. Actually, the flowers were lovely and the Whitman’s Sampler was delectable, rescue for that gooey one. He just wasn’t my type. Anyway, it happened to be a 20-something reacting to my well-considered observation regarding the naiveté of 20-somethings in general. I think I hit a tender nerve. In response, he called me ageist. I’m not sure if reverse ageism works like reverse racism. In other words, some say victims of racism cannot be racist towards racists because they (the victims) are victims of racism themselves. I assess that’s how it works. And, anyway, wouldn’t some new guy calling some old guy “ageist” be ageism?
Back in the day when I was just turning salt and pepper (I’m all salt now), I was roaming around a market in Bangkok. Whenever I’d interact with someone younger, I got the full Monty of deference. They’d bow their heads with hands together, and if I were seated, would make sure they were seated even lower, on the ground if dependency be, to be sure they were not speaking down to me. It wasn’t a aware effort to lull a wary tourist into a sale, either. It was
The 50th anniversary of Stonewall this year stands to remind the LGBTQ people of the valiant clash for rights that many of us take for granted today. As an elder in the LGBT community — at the young age of 53 — I worry about what’s happening to those in our community who led the fight: Ageism.
Ageism refers to prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of age. It can manifest as negative stereotypes about people of a particular age group. Sometimes it can be overt — such as firing someone when they extend a specific age. More often, it is less obvious, such as making assumptions about people’s abilities or dismissing their ideas.
Ageism can leave older adults feeling disconnected or hidden within their communities. It is a prejudice that is more socially acceptable than other forms of stigma and discrimination. But like any form of stigma and marginalization, ageism can directly affect a person’s physical and mental health. According to the World Health Organization, older adults who internalize negative attitudes about aging may live 7.5 years less than those with positive attitudes.
Our LGBT community is often guilty of perpetuating ageism
Body image and overall health found important to the sexual health of older gay men, according to new studies
According to a National Poll on Healthy Aging, 93% of people in the U.S. between 50-80 years ancient report experiencing at least one form of ageism from other people. Internalized ageism is when a person believes ageist ideas about themselves, such as thinking they had a “senior moment” or thinking they are too ancient to learn new technology. Internalizing ageist stereotypes can impact older people’s mental and physical health, including sexual health. Various aspects of older adults’ sexual health have been studied widely; however, studies focusing on older gay men, who often face disproportionate health disparities, are limited.
New research from Lucas R. Prieto, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at George Mason University’s College of Widespread Health, found that internalized gay ageism affects some aspects of older homosexual men’s sexual health, but not all. Internalized male lover ageism negatively impacts older gay men’s sexual satisfaction when mediated by body image. However, internalized same-sex attracted ageism does not affect their erectile dysfunction. Interna