November 1, 2015 by Alice Fisher, M.A., M.S.W A couple of weeks ago, the front page story in the Sunday NY Times was about George Bell who was found dead in his apartment after the many days that he lay there alone. He was a hoarder and was found decomposing among his many possessions and …
AGEISM AND THE DANCE OF MARGINALITY
By Alice Fisher, M.A., M.S.W. “I know I’m going to get older. I can handle that. I even know that I am going to die. What bothers me the most, though, is the thought of becoming irrelevant.” This statement was made by a 69 year old man who is a member of my consciousness raising …
THE LAST ACCEPTABLE PREJUDICE IN AMERICA
by Alice Fisher M.A., M.S.W. Last week Bill Maher’s closing editorial comments were about ageism, identifying it as the ‘last acceptable prejudice in America’. Ageism might be more accurately described as the ‘least acceptable prejudice in America’. Why? When a person uses ageist language, he is expressing prejudice against himself. Age, after all, is a …
ON GRANDPARENTING IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
by Alice Fisher M.A., M.S.W. I have been a grandmother for over 17 years. It is a role that I covet, yet circumstances in our constantly changing society present challenges that I could have never anticipated. I revered my grandparents. Before we moved to Long Island when I was 7 years old, we lived in …
AGING IN PLACE CAN BE DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR HEALTH
by Alice Fisher M.A., M.S.W. Surveys show that most people when asked prefer to spend the last years of their lives in their homes rather than in a community or institutional setting. What they fail to consider…or don’t want to consider…is the prospect of being homebound and spending their last years alone with only an …
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AGEISM & THE ANTI-AGING INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: WHAT DOES WISDOM AND BEAUTY LOOK LIKE?
by Alice Fisher M.A., M.S.W. How do you feel when you sit down to unwind in front of the television at the end of the day and you are bombarded with ads that tell you to “Stop the Hands of Time with Mrs. Smith’s Anti-Aging Formula 801”? Or, you may want to try a little …
Ageism in the Workplace
by Alice Fisher M.A., M.S.W. If we are not welcome in the workplace and we are expected to live well into our nineties and beyond, how can we ever hope to be able to sustain ourselves financially? Can you imagine a workforce made up of 3 generations? I am 68, my children are in their …
A Call for Radical Aging
by Alice Fisher, M.S.W. In the 60’s, we raised our voices to put an end to racism, sexism, and to end a war. Now, we are in our 60’s and we need to dig down deep to raise those voices again to put an end to ageism. If there is any certainty in this world, …
Who is Old?
by Alice Fisher, M.S.W. Who is old? What does old mean? Who decides that you are old? Who do you identify as old? Is it age? Do you automatically become old the day you start collecting your social security? Some people collect at 62, some at 66, and some at 70. Or, maybe it’s the …