Perceptions of Aging

In our society, aging is portrayed in a negative way. Nobody wants to get older. There is a definite stigma associated getting older. Getting older is associated with death while being young is associated with life. This can be observed in the phrase "Over the Hill". If one is "Over the Hill", the metaphor indicates that their life is one a downward slope towards death. Many of the birthday cards I observed portrayed aging in …

…blurry!" This card made fun of aging and loosing one's eyesight. Some cards I observed dealt with sexuality. These cards portrayed a message that sexuality is for young people and not for the aging. For example, one card with a bikini clad women in the front read "For your 40th birthday, I hired this women to come to your place and do a highly erotic striptease" and on the inside "Don't worry she knows CPR".