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Talkback is a
regular feature in laterlife.com run by
journalist and author Helen Franks.
Welcome to talkback 77
Read Helen's views and ideas, then add
your own by emailing her on helen@laterlife.com.
Whatever your opinion on the subject under
discussion, Helen wants to hear it.
If you would like to suggest future
topics for talkback, please email Helen with
the details. And remember you can also start your own
forum discussion thread by visiting the laterlife cafe
I blame witches
I blame witches. Or rather the people who draw them to
illustrate children’s story books. Green-tinged complexions,
long noses sporting a wart, pointed chins complete with a few
long whiskers. Old women . Enough to make the kids go yuck or
boo.
It’s nothing like so bad with old men. Take wizards.
Wise-looking, exciting-looking, dressed up in long blue velvet
cloaks with gold stars sprinkled on them. Masters of the
universe. Even the odd tramp who makes his way into my
grandchildren’s books has a twinkly kind of appeal.
But look at grandparents of both sexes, and your heart sinks.
There they are, in story books and greetings cards, granny and
grandad, drawn like a couple of beat-up old cushions, lumpy and
saggy, with glasses perched on the ends of their noses, slippers
on their bunioned feet, hair scraggy and clothes straight from
the ragbag. Not, I hope like you or me, people who take regular
exercise, eat the right foods, pop the right vitamin pills and
still know the way to the hairdressers.
Needless to say, I take exception to images of sinister
witches and frumpy grandparents as typical of middle to old
age, and it’s not just a matter of pride either. I’m not too
keen on the effect these images may have on young children. We
know that small children are highly impressionable. They quickly
learn that young and beautiful equate with desirable and
lovable, while old and ugly or frumpy are quite the opposite.
Adoring grandparents are usually adored for the first few
years, but it doesn’t take long for a child to catch on to
the real messages in the illustrations. Old to the young can
mean boring, unexciting, frumpy and even frightening. (And don’t
forget that sexist slant - worse for women than men.)
Young and beautiful ideals are not much help for the young
themselves, certainly no preparation for the reality of
life’s physical imperfection. Nowadays surveys show that every
teenager aspires to ‘catwalk’ looks, thus making them hostages
for dissatisfaction as they regard their own images in the
mirror. Making them vulnerable to anorexia and bulimia, too. No
wonder the young don’t rate the old. They don’t even rate their
imperfect, normal selves.
An American survey some years ago found that small children
were fearful of the very elderly, finding them
threatening-looking and unfamiliar. The survey concluded that
children didn’t see enough of their elders and should be taken
to visit residential homes where their grandparents or probably
greatgrandparents resided in ageist segregation.
The way things are going, there should be many more
extremely elderly relatives for young children to visit as we
all live longer. But long before we get to that stage, we can do
without the unhelpful stereotypes.
So please children’s book illustrators, give us a break.
Just the odd aerobic, marathon-running grandparent or a witch
like that nice blonde Glenda in the Wizard of Oz. Or perhaps a
saga about superman’s gran.
Every little helps.
Helen would still like to hear your views
Don`t forget to take a look at Helen`s healthwise column
too
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