Ronnie, oh how I envy your writing ability. You express it like I think. It is all so true. Have a wonderful day. Nashville has its first heavy frost. Everything looks white outside.

You're so right, Ronnie. Of course anti-aging is what sells. Good basic health and active minds are what matter most, but our society seems to encourage improving our outer appearaces rather than what, if anything, is going on in our brains. I'm willing to bet that books that tell it like it is (an example: "60 On Up," by Lillian B. Rubin) don't sell nearly as well as the guides to staying young. Reality is sometimes hard to swallow.

Your work on the blog is a great gift to all of us. THANK YOU.

I think you do yourself no favors by using the term "Crabby Old Lady". I much prefer to think of you as vibrant, insightful, and willing to have opinions in print...all indicators of a depth of character that is admirable.

Statements of opinions, facts, etc. are not "rants".

How about championing a campaign to send Oprah e-mails about getting into the positive aspects of aging?

Keep up the great work!

Sue

Ronni, seek no more: YOU are "one willing to think publicly about aging in any way other than staying young forever." No need wishing for who you already are. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And I adore the moniker that you reserve for ranting;-)

I join you in this frustration. I saw the introduction to this last "stay young" Oprah show and turned it off. But I also emailed her and will continue to do so. I think that ceaselessly hearing our voices and our constructive, creative ideas, might make a dent...

Keep it up, Ronni. I agree with most of the points here and I emailed Oprah the day I saw the show. (Think I'll send a link to this post, too.)
Everyone is right: if she gets on the bandwagon to fight ageism changes will happen.

Meanwhile, I prefer not to bash her too much. In the culture in which she lives (mediaville) she sets a very high standard for integrity, generosity, and social responsibility. That she's not perfect just makes her more like me.

And all of us here - don't discount the impact our own voices will have on this issue. We hold the power to make the changes also and are adding to that energy every day. Go Team!

Mary Jamison...

Crabby Old Lady is Ronni Bennett's less polite alter ego. She reads over Ronni's shoulder and urges Ronni toward stronger and - uh, more colorful speech.

If Crabby Old Lady had her way, this blog wouldn't be fit for the family hour. You should hear Crabby when she gets wound up - whew! even the cat runs for cover.

Mostly, Ronni keeps Crabby Old Lady under relative control on the blog, but occasionally something slips through that Ronni herself would never say in public.

Well, Crabby, I can see why you won't be running out to those bookstores anytime soon. Never mind the money, it's not worth the effort.
Because all those silly gooses, Oprah included, are delusional. I don't care what kind of cream, info, etc. they have....pssss! They TOO will get OLD some day.
I think "they" have the two words mixed up....healthy vs young. I would never want to be "young" again. Learned my lessons and mighty glad to be where I am at this stage of the journey. Now, healthy....I hope to maintain that for quite awhile.

The Internet strategies company I work for is, except for my friend Anne and me, pretty much the Temple of Youth. It's a small company, so it doesn't make much difference, but this is likely to be my last job. I dread the thought of heading out with a résumé at my age. I think I know what would happen.

Right now I'm having trouble getting a transcript from my undergraduate college. Yes, I explain, I attended 40 years ago. Forty years may seem like a long time, but I think the transcript still exists--and, yes, as a computer record, not a damn cuneiform tablet!

Excellent post, Ronni! Oprah has done much good, but she is on the wrong track with her age denial programs.

Americans love self-help books and buy them with both hands. And, face it, books with titles like The Joy of Wrinkles, The Upside of ED, and Humor for the Alzheimer Patient are not going to sell.

I love to read what Crabby Old Lady writes. You need to let her 'ghostwrite' more often.

Loved the rant. I too work in a bookstore and wonder why people mostly women have to read these "claw back up the hill" books. No aging isnt fun but growing up wasnt a piece of cake either. I like what i am and who i turned out to be. Yes i do whine about being mistaken for my mother's sister. But then she had the same problem with her mother. We are all short & round with our original hair color long gone. I'm going to look like my ancestors no matter what. I truly think a great age-fighter is kindness. Smiles break down barriers.

I had forgotten what hooked me on this blog in the first place until I realized I had been missing COL. So what if her language gets out of hand sometimes! I'm just glad she has a forum for expression and am in awe of her special knack with written words.

Meanwhile, I join others in continuing to promote the fact that "the language that's used" is a significant part of what this ageism is all about, as I have been doing since long before I "met" COL.

That remind's me, doncha just love the name of that one Dr. on Oprah -- Dr. Oz ? Seems apropos for the land in which Oprah currently lives relative to aging.

Sure am glad to read others are writing her, too. I remember when I heard her speak in person, before her show was picked up by the network. I was really impressed, made a point of watching her first national TV broadcast, have seen numerous shows since then.

Some years ago, she really got off track, despite all the good she accomplishes. If she ever comes to grip with the aging reality, she could make a signifcant contribution toward changing aging perceptions in this country, even the world. I hold out hope that will happen, and want to be around to see it.

Whenever a see Dr. Oz-type headline about "fighting" aging, it never occurs to me to sign up for this particular army.

Even if we dye our hair, get our faces "done", work out two hours a day (as IF!), and pile on the anti-aging "miracle" creams, we will still age.

We will not look 25 again no matter what we do. And neither will Oprah.

Think about how tough this makes the rest of us, whether we know it or not.

If multiple millions of dollars and a first name that's a household word is not enough to make you feel OK about yourself as an old lady, how brave must the rest of us be to face life on a lot less?

I refuse to feel guilty about getting older. It isn't a battle we lose, it's growth. Thanks for being a voice.

Ronnie, you put so many of our thoughts about this subject in writing so well. I also am just so sick and tired of seeing endless media of all types hype the "secret" of staying young. In effect, each article, book, and TV program story is saying that growing older is somehow wrong and shameful and to be totally avoided at all costs. Each time I see one of these "how to stay young" stories I am offended. As I approach the upper edges of my 50's on the cusp of 60, I grow more offended by this hyping of youth products each year.

I came to understand the benefits of aging in my early 50's, with the great assistance of your wonderful insight into what it is "really" like to get older. Being an elder is nothing to be ashamed of, and hidden under miracle wrikle removers (let alone permanent smiley facelifts).

I met one of these boomer women obsessed with staying young at a party recently, after she started up a conversation with me. Suddenly, with dire concern on her face, she says, "What are those spots under your eyes?" I told her that I supposed they were "age spots". She said, like it was something really serious, "Oh why don't you get them removed?" I responded immediately with, "I guess I'm not vain enough to worry about them." She avoided me the rest of the evening, to my delight.

When will this boomer obsession with staying "young" subside? I fear it will not, for a long time.

Melinda

I suppose the next thing we'll see (if it's not out there already) is anti-aging products for pets.

Oprah has also had on her show the plastic surgeon who just allegedly operated on Kanye West's 58 year old mother, gave a her a tummy tuck, and sent her to the grave with a flat stomach.

I am older than the Boomers. I can no longer avoid confessing to myself that I'm aging: I've had a hip replacement and my cataracts removed during the past year alone. If this keeps up, I will be bionic before I die.

Maybe that's the final answer we are all looking for: replace everything.

I readily admit my age, I live a healthy lifestyle, and I plan for the future as though I could have another twenty years. But I don't fight the culture either; I had my eyebrows tattooed on today. It is what it is. Although we can't change it, as the number of aging people in the culture multiplies, it will change by itself.

I agree 200%..I'm so tired of having to hear looking young..or younger..all I pray for is to live a long and happy life with my family and few friends. I wish Oprah would give her obsession with beauty as well as age up..she would enjoy her life a lot more. All she does is try to look like a fashion plate..certainly not what life is really about. keep the articles coming, maybe someway she'll read them.

My best..
Dorothy from grammology

Good in all of them except the tobacco, I still smokes. Great article