No, it’s not Kamala.  This delicious mishmash is brought to us by Professor Stacy Torres of UC San Francisco.  Her article, “Why do we talk about older people so negatively?” appeared in the Los Angeles Times on February 15th, 2024.

Prof. Torres introduces her essay with an example from partisan politics, the recent report by Robert K. Hur on President Biden’s harmless fun with classified documents.  She refers to Mr. Hur’s “prejudicial language” and cites a specific example from his report, to wit, “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Of these four descriptors, it would seem that only “a poor memory” could be interpreted as prejudicial, but no, Prof. Torres insists that “the word ‘elderly’ leaps out as most cringe-worthy in its power to conjure images of frailty and helplessness.” 

Joe Biden, frail and helpless?  Well, you be the judge.  Would “elderly” trigger an “image of frailty and helplessness” if it were Donald Trump in the example?  He’s a lot of things, but frail and helpless are not among them. 

Consider this an unforced error by the Professor.

Prof. Torres has buried the lede, her essay is not a partisan defense of Biden’s age as an issue, her essay is a serious discussion of ageism and the language it invokes.  Her expert references are qualified and apt.  But she treats the elderly as a monolithic block.

Ageism is defined as, “[P]rejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly [sic—forgive the cringe-worthy word].”  Such discrimination is indeed a problem.

Paragraph three of the professor’s essay reads, “Older people themselves aren’t the issue, but the way we talk about them is. We must change the language our society uses to describe older adults.”  She’s describing two groups, the “we” group and the “them” group.  She’s saying that the “we” group is not the same as the “them” group because of an age difference.  Isn’t that the very definition of ageism?  

Another unforced error, Professor.

The old age phase of the lifecycle is not a one-size-fits-all experience.  In a cognitive sense, it varies from the shuffling, stumbling, mumbling, bumbling of an 81-year-old to the high-level duplicate bridge of my 101-year-old friend and occasional partner.  In a health sense, it varies from the debilitating diabetes of my late wife to my own vigorous good physical and cognitive health at age 87.

Prof. Torres suggests that, as an older person, I have two dreadful choices: self-loathing or laughing at myself.  Sorry, Professor, I reject self-loathing under any circumstances, and I often laugh at myself.  It’s healthy to do so.

It’s Love – 3, Professor. 

The semantic band aid offered by Professor Torres is too simplistic for the myriad of old age life phases.  Why can’t we just be kind and respectful in our language towards other people, regardless of age — or for that matter ethnicity, religion, politics, or sports team?  

Naw, leave us some red meat, ixnay the sports team.

Mike Johnson is a small government conservative, a retired rocket scientist (junior grade), and a resident of Gloucester MA.  Email mnosnhoj@comcast.net.

Image generated by AI.