Anna Sirota The cult of eternal youth: why Russians over 50 are scrapped 10/01/2024, 08:00

In our country, those who are “for whom” are not only commemorated on Elders’ Day. In many cities and regions, entire programs exist or are about to be launched designed to make the lives of older Russians better and more diverse – these are “Moscow Longevity” and St. “Silver Age” of St. Petersburg. Here you can go to the museum almost for free, ride Sapakh in the summer and learn Chinese – just know, have time to sign up everywhere. It’s good that all this is revealed and developed, otherwise it would be completely sad. However, despite the many different benefits and programs, let me say this, as almost the target audience of all these initiatives, being old in our country is quite a depressing situation.

I will not talk about the meager pensions known after 30-40 years of work experience – the hair on my head is already moving with fear at the thought of how I will live when I reach retirement age. I am not planning a well-deserved vacation, so to speak, because otherwise my standard of living will fall into an unimaginable gap even with various free options.

It’s not just about money; Here everyone goes out as much as they can. Some help their children, some work until they die, and some rent real estate. However, the vast majority are forced to somehow reduce their normal needs. Society itself seems to be telling you: that’s it, it’s time to give way to the young, to think about the eternal. Restrain your excitement and desires and let’s slowly crawl towards the cemetery. The cult of youth – both passport and foreign – does not actually exist in our country. He, this cult, literally dictates everything.

Once you reach a certain age, it’s like you’re scrapped and that, I’m telling you, is very, very offensive. If you are not aware, according to the WHO classification recognized in our country, youth ends at the age of 44, but after that, for some reason, we do not have middle age, which should last up to 60 years by every standard, but it is almost old age. Even increasing the retirement age by five years did not change anything in the prevailing stereotypes: if you reach 50, that’s it, the last comedy, you already fall into the eternal category under the tragic name 50+. So for some reason, there is no such thing as middle age for us.

If you’re over 50, or even over 45, it’s much harder to find a job: Your resume will be thrown in the trash as soon as the first line is read. From where? Because young people are easier to manage, and that’s the number one reason why. It seems that after 50 you are still full of strength, you already have adult children and you have more free time, a lot of experience, talent and desire to work. But since you have the “old” label stuck on your forehead, you can only find a good job through an acquaintance.

If you are over 50, you should forget about your personal life. You can watch how this happens in societies without age discrimination in foreign movies and TV series. Here too, our double standards work very well: we can simultaneously admire the beauty of 60-year-old Monica Bellucci and call “grandma” a saleswoman who is 15 years younger than Monica and who, I assure you, does not feel anything. like a grandmother in every way. Of course they look different. And here we come to the most important point – appearance.

Nowhere and never – especially have I been here and there in pre-pandemic times – have I seen such almost religious reverence for Botox and plastic surgery. Our women are seen from afar in airports around the world. Puffy but smooth faces without wrinkles and nasolabial folds, lips enlarged by injections, an almost non-existent nose bridge and high cheekbones – this is a typical portrait of women over 45 from the countries of the former Soviet Union. Where all this comes from is still a mystery to me. Maybe you know this? But nowhere in the world – from Africa to Japan – have I observed such a desire for eternal external youth.

It would be nice if everyone ran to the gym for fifty dollars in order to preserve mobility, joint flexibility as long as possible and prevent the inevitable loss of muscle mass with age – but no, that’s what the minority does. Most women resort to so-called beauty injections. I don’t blame them, on the contrary, I can understand. It is really very sad to grow old, and although the Lord God took care of us and invented farsightedness so that we could not see all our wrinkles and sagging ovals in the mirror as clearly as before, age-related changes cannot be ignored. They are just acceptable. And if our society wasn’t so disdainful towards senior citizens, it would be much easier to accept them.

If there were no need to constantly hide something – a wrinkled neck under a scarf, a bald spot under a hat, extra pounds under baggy clothes, spider veins on the legs under trousers, etc. – The list could go on longer. Essentially, the cult of eternal youth encourages us to be ashamed of ourselves. Marketers, and after them young people, seem to deprive adults of their right and opportunity to be themselves, to be proud of their age, experience and achievements. Instead, they are prematurely excluded from public life and prematurely registered as old people. By the way, according to the same WHO classification, old age begins only after the age of 75. You can periodically remind others and, most importantly, yourself, of this.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.