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The Invisibility Cloak

  • Writer: Patricia Faust
    Patricia Faust
  • Jan 30
  • 3 min read

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There is a right-of-passage as we enter our older years that can be very disconcerting.  Suddenly we realize that no one is speaking to us – as older women.  Marketing of products leaves us out in the cold.  We don’t see ourselves anymore.  The prime demographic I learned, capped out at 54!  How can a large generation of women be completely lost in the market?  How do we, or can we, wrap our heads around this external mindset of our age and value?

 

Seven out of 10 (70%) of women believe they become invisible as they get older.  The frightening part of this statistic is that they feel this phenomenon begins around age 52!  This is very bad news in the age of longevity.   In contrast to men, nearly two-thirds believe that older women tend to be more invisible than men of the same age, putting this trend down to society being obsessed with youth (62%), ageist (54%), and sexist (35%)!  (gransnet.com)

 

How do we react to this?  For me, I believe these statistics validate my thoughts on the matter.  The perspective that we are indeed ‘over-the-hill’ is blasted on birthday cards, reinforced when we see the only marketing aimed at us is pharmaceutical based.    And the worse insult is marketing created by younger people who think they know what we want or feel!

 

Over the years I have been adamant that our brain doesn’t know how old we are.  Our brain ages by the lifestyle that we lead.  It can be a challenge to keep our brain functioning at a high level.  It becomes our impetus to change our brain and change our life.  So, what can we do?  First, reclaim your age!  It is not necessary to try to appear younger than you are.  I thought I understood that because I am a gerontologist.  I believed I understood that age didn’t matter as you got older.  However, what I learned was, that it does matter.  After going back to grad school in my fifties, I was primed to be an expert in aging because I was already passing those aging thresholds.  What I learned was, I needed to appear younger and think faster if I wanted anyone to pay attention to what I had to say.  I had worked hard to get a master’s in gerontology degree and hold a nursing home administrators license.  It turned out that I couldn’t even get an interview.  That left me in a quandary about what’s next! 

 

It was time to reclaim my brain!  I knew I had a good one even if it felt that no one younger could see me.  We choose our outcomes I believe.  We need to be a part of our own tribe.  These were people who understood what I was feeling and were willing to support me.  Once I felt comfortable in my own skin again, I had my confidence back!  My goodness, how could I have ever let anyone, or anything take my power away?  Then I doubled down on my wisdom and knowledge.  It was at that point I realized how common it was for women of my age to feel invisible!  It became my passion to spread the word about how powerful our brain is and to start shifting the paradigm that is invisibility in ageing to power in aging! 

 

We are not invisible – we are powerful.  Reaffirm your power everyday so that your brain is never in doubt mode but in power mode.  We have a lot to do!

 

Reference:

Gransnet. Invisibility in Later Life. Retrieved from https://www.gransnet.com/online-surveys-product-tests/feeling-invisible-survey

 

 
 
 

Comments

Where did summer go?  It was a goal of mine to be intentional each day of summer to appreciate the warm weather, the long days, and believing we are in the lazy, hazy days of summer.  Turns out that wasn’t exactly how the summer went.  At the beginning of summer, we had a lot of rain.  I mean enough rain to flood the Ohio River and its tributaries.  Everything was wet! Then we went into the heat mode!  At the end of June, we went camping for a long weekend.  We are tent campers!  I think we were the only tent campers in the entire campground.  It was obvious that RVs and Motor Homes were the way to go on this particular camping trip.  Their air conditioners filled the night air with their compressors whirring.  Not to be outdone, my sister-in-law and her husband brought an air conditioner to cool off their tent!  We were really roughing it!!  The 100+ degree temperatures will give us lots of stories to tell about how we survived the heat and still had a great time.

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Then there was July and August and I have no idea what we did to mark those months as memorable.  And now it is September.  This is the best month of the year.  The weather is temperate, and we have an overlap of professional sports in Cincinnati.  The Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team is finishing up the season.  The Cincinnati Bengals National League Football team is starting their season. The FC Cincinnati Major League Soccer (MLS) team is amid their season. 

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Octoberfest is at the end of this month.  Cincinnati has the second largest Octoberfest festival in the world, second only to Munich Germany!

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September is really all about Raising Awareness for the Aging Population!​

  • Healthy Aging Month (Brain Health)

  • National Senior Center Month

  • National Assisted Living Month

  • Falls Prevention Awareness Week

  • World’s Alzheimer’s Month

  • National Suicide Prevention Month

  • National Recovery Month

  • Substance abuse and mental health services

This list is mostly positive references to senior events/awareness.  Suicide Prevention Month and National Recovery Month might not seem like they should be in this list.  But the statistics of seniors taking their own lives is the highest of all age groups.   I did a little research to confirm that statement.  What I found was unsettling.  My next newsletter will include a blog on senior suicide.  This is really important information for all of us.

 

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is less than a month away!! Yikes – I told you I lost a couple of months of the summer!!!  Here are some facts on the personal impact of Alzheimer’s for families, friends, and caregivers.

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  • Today, more than 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s.  By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million.  This is a direct correlation to the large size of the Boomer generation.

 

It is hard to conceptualize the impact of these figures if you are not aware of the devastation Alzheimer’s disease leaves behind.  So, let’s make this more personal:

  • Are you a Boomer?  The last group of Boomers will pass through the 65-age threshold in 2030.  Age is a non-modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s.  The percentage of getting Alzheimer’s and other dementias starts to increase rapidly the older you get.  Boomers are now in the high-risk group which accounts for the huge projection of those with Alzheimer’s by 2050.

  • Do you have a parent, grandparent or other relative or friend that are in the over-65 age group?  You will likely experience Alzheimer’s as a caregiver or friend/relative of a caregiver.  Alzheimer’s will impact your life in many ways.

  • Do you have parents in this over-65 age group and children still living at home?  You are now part of the sandwich generation, responsible for care of your parents and your children.  The results of the extreme stress and financial burden will make for a very difficult time in your life.

 

The Alzheimer’s Association is fully aware of the impact of this horrible disease.  Their goal is to Find the First Survivor.  The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is their largest national fundraiser.  Please support/join Team My Boomer Brain as we too fight to bring an end to Alzheimer’s. 

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Link to donate:  http://act.alz.org/goto/faust

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Thanks to all, 

 

Pat

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