This
post is explores the research question about the meaning of Senior’s Moment. How was it defined? Well, a number of themes immerged, “…
memory problems, cognitive impairment/disease, functional incompetence related
to age, focused on older adults and undefined.” The second research question examined the phrase
within the context of newspaper articles. Most of the senior’s moments referred to memory
problems ranging from minor ones to major ones including Alzheimer’s disease.
There
were articles incorporating concessions frequently happening during public
events. For example: “
I’m having a senior’s moment’, Amy said.
She’s past 50, slim and stunningly attractive – a hard woman not to
like. She was speaking to a
community meeting when she lost her train of thought. She stood for a moment
blushing flushing fetchingly. “Pardon me, she repeated, “I just had a senior’s
moment.” The audience laughed
understandingly and she went on with her talk.
By
using a phrase as an insult, incidents focus on the negative, highlighting the
derogatory nature of age-based memory loss and confusion. One columnist accused Martha Stewart of
“having a senior moment” when she denied that anyone else had responsibility
for her decision to do a well-publicized photo shoot.
One
article puts it, a senior’s moment is
“funny when it happens to someone else, not so funny when it happens to
you.” Another article suggests
that the young should be more fearful: “ if you are in your 60s or 70s,
Senior’s moments are a strain on both and [your family]. This article goes on to suggest that
after 80, one can be as confused and forgetful as you like because it is
socially acceptable. This article reinforces the idea that confusion and mental
decline are an inevitable part of the aging process, and that after a certain
age you should just give into it.
Finally
it is stated that: “ …these fears and beliefs may have significant impact on
older adult’s themselves. Some
adults may adopt these stereotypes as true, thus self-stereotyping or adopting
the negative characteristics expected of older adults.”
[1] This
material was gathered from the Journal of Aging Studies(18)2004 132-142.
Specificity dealing with Senior’s
Moments: The acceptability of an Ageist phrase. By J.L. Bonneston and Elizabeth
Bonnesen. The research shows
us that the term Seniors Moment is an Ageist Attribution.
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