pam-mentations.com

An excerpt from some footnotes in my archives:

Mind you, as one ages she is portrayed as having deteriorating rationality. What’s more, elderly people are often stereotyped as emotionally rigid, cranky, and prone to ‘irrational’ behaviours. Hence crones (witches) and curmudgeons. But then there are also the sweet-old-lady stereotypes, those ever-pleasant grandmothers bereft of emotional outbursts. Unless, of course, you’re the feisty kind of grandma, a Raging Granny (an international social justice organisation), an old bitty, dotty, or a complaining old hag/nag. And then there is tension between the notion of cognitively rigid seniors (inflexible, stubborn as a mule, and hopelessly out of touch) and the gullible, easily malleable seniors (walk slow, think slow) – or the both rigid and gullible variety (e.g. I’ll watch only *OX-*NN-NSBC News and believe everything said on that station.) I’m entering the crone stage myself, which is probably why I’m a bit cranky about these stereotypes. Dagnabbit.