If you are in your 50s plus…
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Anonymous
Why do you care what other people do/think? Their genders don’t affect you. |
Anonymous
Great! If it doesn’t affect me, then stop telling me I have to accept that a man is a woman! No problem with that one. |
Anonymous
How does acknowledging someone’s gender one way or another affect you? |
Anonymous
I suspect there’s a swimming team in Pennsylvania who are affected and care very deeply. |
Anonymous
Because I don’t like to lie, either to myself or other people. But especially to myself |
Anonymous
The world will be a better place in 20-30 years when some people like you are no longer in it. |
Anonymous
Ha! Would it shock you to learn that I’m 29? |
Anonymous
Yes, considering this is a thread for 50+. An illiterate bigot. Life must be tough for you. |
Anonymous
You demonstrate as an embittered elderly Karen- definitely 50+ - but because I am far less judgmental I won’t presume that Fair? |
Anonymous
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I don’t recognize how unkind our society has become.
I realize that the civility and kindness we used to have were not widely shared by race, gender, income, etc., but I had rather hoped we were working to expand the kindness so it applies to everyone. Instead what seems to have happened is we’ve expanded the meanness so now everyone gets treated like crap and it’s an everyone-for-themselves kind of world. Makes me wonder what Tocqueville would say about us if traveling the US today. |
Anonymous
Dp. It's weird. I think we can all agree on that. Weird, meaning strange, unusual, unfamiliar. That is not a judgement, it is a statement of fact. |
Anonymous
Decline in what way? |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Not that so much as the extremes on both sides of the political spectrum and many (most) people not trusting (or abiding by) government. That's a recipe for disaster long-term. |
Anonymous
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I am 65. All these issues were here long before now, but access information has changed. If you are over 65, you saw the normalization of sexual diversity happen while you were an adult, as opposed to being a child..it was there but hidden in most cases or pushed off into groups, but you may be unfamiliar with gender issues. All you knew about was cross dressing, maybe. So, basically, this group had a big learning curve and needed to adjust the route and plane, even, while in flight. Now, what matters is that you are doing it or not. Make an effort.
Religion and social templates dictated our lives, marriages, careers, choices, and families. Families look very different now, relationships are defined differently. Sexuality, period, is entirely out in the open. It's been removed from some religious sanctity, (and from behind closed doors), and yes, misogyny. It's hard to imagine how much those social institutions informed how we did everything, even if we weren't religious. Our generation was the bridge that led us to new constructs today, and I wish millennials would give young boomers credit for that. We paved a lot of roads. Access to information is better, comprehensive. Technology has transformed the way we do everything. We've literally had to adjust our brains to imbibe so much information and apply it to so much in our lives. But, let's not forget- we developed this-- not younger generations. They used what we developed, and there are problems. Access to information doesn't mean it's all valid. Or appropriate. Children access concepts of sexuality and other things far too early before they are able to understand context. They have access to things they shouldn't- sex, violence, fetishism- and it has a neurological effect, and may be exacerbating or fueling more mental illness than we think. Having said that, we have come a long way from what was considered "normal" and what was considered "crazy." We understand more about mental health- and that is good. Advances in science have helped in areas of disease and nutrition. We've normalized all types of spirituality and we are trying to climb out of a white, Christian, male dominated template. I'm not saying being a Christian is no longer valid or OK, but I'm saying it shouldn't dominate our laws, education, relationships, or health. It really has up until recently, and there are those who are trying to go backwards. What's bad now? Violence, increased racism, zenophobia (so odd since most of us are from an immigrant background) climate issues, education programming still stuck in another generation, lack of health care for so many, food insecurity, explosion of addictive drugs, lack of community, unfettered and massive amounts of information all the time 24/7, working/ career paradigms for families, lack of support for families in general informing poor parenting in many cases, widespread poverty in the face of massive wealth, exponential consumerism and status, and lack of empathy. |