Who You Calling an Elder Blogger?
August 22nd, 2010 © by Susan Swartz
I was at the BlogHer conference in New York when one of the panelists commented that “even” her own mother blogs. She called her mother “one of those elder bloggers.” Meaning, she said, “anyone over 50 who blogs.”
I pried my gnarled fingers off my Underwood, slammed down my Ensure and quaked, “Say, what, girlie?” That’s a joke. I would never say anything so ageist, but I did gulp and turned to my daughter to ask, “Might she be talking about moi?”
I am well over 50 and my daughter is well under and yet, blogging wise, she is the senior one. Someone might call her a hottie blogger. She probably wouldn’t object.
But elder blogger really pushed my buttons. Is Maya Angelou an elder poet? Is Annie Leibovitz an elder photographer. Is Madonna an elder rock star?
Not surprisingly, the blogging world is dominated by youngish people. A story in the New York Times said that 53 percent of bloggers are between the ages of 21 to 35. Only about 7 percent of bloggers are over 51. In the world of blogging the young are old hands, the old are newbies.
At the BlogHer conference there were more than 2,400 women bloggers and certainly the under-50 demo outnumbered the over-50. And over 60, like me.
It could be worse, I guess. They might have called us “geezer geeks.”
I asked Beth Blakely from the website Vibrant Nation, which is for women age 50 and over and has a number of regular bloggers ,what she thinks of the term. Beth says it can be helpful to identify a blogger by her subject just as you would any writer with a particular focus. But the general tag of elder blogger doesn’t work for her.
My friend and contemporary Michele blogs about food and wine and some might call her a foodie blogger. But elder blogger? Never. She colors her hair egglplant and hula dances. I can’t imagine she will ever be an elder anything.
The problem is the word. In some cultures “elder” is a sign of respect, as it was once in our own and might some day be again. But in our mainstream youth-happy world it creaks.
I will embrace my gray hair, my funky sore back and that I know most Beatles lyrics. But elder is a description I am not ready or brave enough to own. It makes me feel old. Blogging makes me feel like a player.
Pattie Heiser has the website 50 Fabulous and doesn’t consider herself an elder blogger. “It gives me hives to think of it.” She has the same problem with the word. “Our culture does not revere our elderly and to be so means that you will be disregarded and discarded.”
On the other side, Joan Price is fine with elder. Joan writes books about sex after 60 and blogs about it at NakedAtOurAge.com In her mid-60s, Joan calls herself a senior and considers her audience boomers, seniors and, yes, elders. She credits her late husband with putting the right spin on elder, as someone who had “the wisdom of a lifetime of experiences.”
Were elder to deliver such a strong, respectful vibe it would be something to aspire to. It would be a designation that you earned, not something automatically granted when you become a certain age, like Medicare and movie discounts.
Then, if someone called me an elder, meaning that I was experienced, wise and worldly, I would flaunt it like a new Pashmina.
But elder as in elder blogger? No, in the blogging world I’m pretty much a juvenile.
Tags: blogging, BlogHer, elder_blogger, Juicy_Tomatoes, Susan_Swartz
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August 23rd, 2010 at 10:13 am
Susan, thanks for including me here. I do feel like an “elder blogger” after 5 years of blogging about sex & aging. But that’s a good thing. After all, we either get old or we die young. I’m learning to embrace aging.
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Great post, Susan!
Count me in as another blogger who doesn’t want to be called elder.
I am 60 and do not want to be called elder or senior in any context! Thank you for helping me clarify why I cringe at those words. If our society valued elders and seniors, I might feel differently.
August 24th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Hi Bonnie: And maybe that will happen in our lifetime with enough vigorous, energetic role models you and I and others are lucky to meet and write about.
August 24th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Hi Joan: And you embrace it well, letting the world know that sexual pleasure and intimacy have no age limits. And thank you for that.
August 24th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Susan, “Elder blogger” makes me laugh. Actually it makes me laugh when I think of Boomers being “elder” because I am too old by four years to be a Boomer and I’ve always thought of you guys as the kids. The description doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the reality.
However, this morning I did lovingly call 30-year-old author (and my great friend with whom I often do intergenerational feminist panels) Courtney Martin an entitled little snot after she implied in her column http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_michelle_obama_all_style_no_substance
that her generation is strategic about picking their political battles. The implication of course is that ours was not. That kind of language bothers me much more than being called an elder anything.
August 24th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
I don’t like ‘elder’ either, for the reasons above, the connotations of decrepitude and the no-longer-important person. But am at a loss how to counter it, either personally in my own reactions or ways that I am in the world at 70. We should have very tough skin by now, that’s all I can think of. Double whammy if you’ve always been sensitive to whatever you considered imperfect in yourself and now there’s this unmovable monument that’s you. good column. Also liked the other one about the importance and dangerousness of blogging in other parts of the world.
August 25th, 2010 at 7:51 am
Great column! I go thrift store shopping with my best friend and we always are drawn to the styles designed for the young. Needless to say, our 60 plus bodies
refuse to get in line with our taste. Hence we coined the phrase “junior seniors” to describe ourselves. How do you like that one?
dd
August 25th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Hi Deb: Good one. I like “junior seniors.” Better than full-fledged, completely there, no question but, seniors. Next year’s BlogHer conference will be in San Diego. Maybe we can finally see each other.
August 25th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
I really and truly don’t care what I’m called but let anyone look at me (with or without my husband) at any time and call me or us, “cute,” I’ll immediately morph into a senior ‘ultimate fighter!’
August 25th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Susan, I about fell of my chair reading this post. Think you’ll enjoy my 3/4/10 blog post called “What’s in a Number” written just before I turned 65. It’s in the archive section at the bottom of the page. I’m adding your blog to my favorite links. Good to be in touch again, it’s been a long time. Shelley
August 25th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
hey judith: I don’t like cute either. It’s so bless-your-heart.
August 26th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I would love being called an elder, if elders got the respect we think they do in some cultures. Maybe it was easier to honor the elders in small groups, when old age was 40 or so.
August 26th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
I think the term elder should relect someone who has reached a successful time in their life’s passage and has wisdom, advice and a wealth of experience to share. Someone that others seek out for their knowledge. Anyone who achieves elder by that definition would probably be over 50, rarely some may reach it at only 40, some may not reach it until 80 and the majority never will. Not everyone who is over 50 deserves to be painted with that term.
August 26th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
… on second thought. If I were to have – or participate in – a photography exhibit and was referred to as an “elder photographer” I would NOT be happy. So, I apologize. Turns out, I do care. The adjective “elder,” in most situations, is just not necessary.
August 26th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
But if you were taking photos only of older people, would you be an elder photographer? It’s tricky. I think of Jimmy Carter as an elder statesman which has nothing to do with his age but the respect he gets for his experience and style.
August 27th, 2010 at 6:54 am
I’d be a “photographer of elders!”
The ‘feel’ of “elder statesman” seems different to me too … definitely one of respect.
September 27th, 2010 at 9:26 am
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September 27th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
I’m all for the word Elder. I help a bunch of amazing women run a blog that calls it like we see it. It’s ElderChicks.com, and everyone who writes or reads on our site is proud of it! Thank you for your wonderful site, too. I’m learning there’s nothing wrong with being over 50, and a LOT that’s great.
September 27th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Actually, the combo of “elder” with “chicks” is pretty engaging. And, of course, clever. It’s got humor and defiance. I will definitely check it out. Thanks, Tory.
May 24th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Hi Susan,
Glad to hear from you again. Elder-blogger? How did they know? And I was only nodding. The poignant memory followed me home from the 2010 BlogHer Conference in NYC. I laughed all the way. Fact is, I wouldn’t be 30, 40 or 50 again! Maybe 60.
You told it like it is! USA women blogger wannabee’s, charge ahead. Those attendees aren’t even weaned. What they know, we can learn–we took typing in school. And we know stuff they won’t ever, like: throw the carriage. Nothing to do with horses, dear.
May 29th, 2011 at 4:22 am
I consider ‘elder’ to be a sign of respect and far more accurate that ‘senior’ or ‘boomer’. My problem with boomer is that I’m several years too old to be a boomer and don’t like being lumped into that group as if everyone over 50 represented a single age group. For a while I was writing tech posts for the blog Time Goes By under the name ElderGeek, and I was quite proud of the name.