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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

"boomer" thread 2 💥

174 replies

IClaudine · 03/09/2023 08:21

A thread for people who want to combat ageism on the site, because MNHQ can't be bothered to.

OP posts:
6BedsOneAcre · 03/09/2023 09:58

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/09/2023 09:53

I have seen posts that unashamedly state thsr once we get to a certain age we should be euthsnised or allowed to die because above a certain age we are a drain on society

After we've had our properties taken off us, our pensions means tested and we've all been shunted into one bedroom flats, of course.

I thik there's a lot of 'well I'm hidden by a screen so I can be a keyboard warrior and say outrageous things to shock people' bravado in some posts. Unfortunately I think a lot of the posters feel free to use the anonymity to say what they really think and believe.

Yes, all of that and after we have provided full time childcare for our grandchildren! It's just greed.

Lisbeth50 · 03/09/2023 09:58

There is intergenerational inequality and younger generations are aware of it and sometimes angry about it.

Hasn't there always been intergenerational inequality?

Maireas · 03/09/2023 10:15

Hasn't there always been inequality? Easier to blame a demographic than look at the way various governments have mismanaged the economy.

SageFennel · 03/09/2023 10:17

Hasn't there always been intergenerational inequality?
I'm sure there has, though in the case of many post war families the younger generation were better off than their parents. I am better off than my parents were as is DH.
Our own DC are substantially better off than we were at their ages (25 and 27) but I suspect this is partly because none of us live in the SE. The North South divide is as much responsible for inequality as generation.

MorrisZapp · 03/09/2023 10:20

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/09/2023 09:43

'Sleaze' is a matter of opinion. The 'old' was the usual casual ageism.

He was a generation older than her and knew her because she was his pupil at school. I'm 52, if a man my age was preying on a woman a generation younger I'd consider him a sleazy old git.

I don't want to see ageism on MN either but pretending that nobody is older than anyone else is illogical and destined to failure.

Samcro · 03/09/2023 10:34

I wish people would just drop the silly "boomer" type labels. I am classed as boomer. it includes people born after the war up to early 60's. so such a wide cohort. im just on the edge of it.
each generation has their issues. growing up in the 70's we certainly had ours.
just get the labels dropped and see people as people.

AutumnCrow · 03/09/2023 10:47

Samcro · 03/09/2023 10:34

I wish people would just drop the silly "boomer" type labels. I am classed as boomer. it includes people born after the war up to early 60's. so such a wide cohort. im just on the edge of it.
each generation has their issues. growing up in the 70's we certainly had ours.
just get the labels dropped and see people as people.

I was astonished when I looked at the actual age ranges last night for 'baby boomer', 'Gen X' etc.

Baby Boomers were born, supposedly, all the way up to 1964. So some of them are still only 58! And will have to work till they're 67? 68?

My kids in their 20s are in different categories (Y and Z, I think?) despite being only a couple of years apart in age and having all the same economic and social problems.

The biggest differences I see out there in the UK are sex-based inequalities, many of which are magnified as we age because of the way in which society has been, and is, structured. Women are much more likely to be expected to relinquish their resources, whether these be their careers, money for family, free time, energies, working hours, savings, potential pension money, care duties, volunteering, emotional labour, physical living space, and general largesse.

Edited for typo

Maireas · 03/09/2023 10:49

Samcro · 03/09/2023 10:34

I wish people would just drop the silly "boomer" type labels. I am classed as boomer. it includes people born after the war up to early 60's. so such a wide cohort. im just on the edge of it.
each generation has their issues. growing up in the 70's we certainly had ours.
just get the labels dropped and see people as people.

Absolutely. 👍

Maireas · 03/09/2023 10:52

Interesting that two posts have just been deleted - both offensive and ageist - one on the shouted at on the bus thread, the other on that man turning up 5 hours early thread.

ilovesooty · 03/09/2023 11:12

Samcro · 03/09/2023 10:34

I wish people would just drop the silly "boomer" type labels. I am classed as boomer. it includes people born after the war up to early 60's. so such a wide cohort. im just on the edge of it.
each generation has their issues. growing up in the 70's we certainly had ours.
just get the labels dropped and see people as people.

Brilliant post.

greenhydrangea · 03/09/2023 11:23

It's all so stupid. It's not as if anyone arranged to have themselves born in a specific timeframe. It's not as if everyone in a randomly assigned cohort thinks the same way, lives the same way, and "ends up" with the same advantages and lifestyle.

People don't even bother to learn what a Baby Boomer is, in terms of age range - the most basic of facts, ie - and hardly seem aware of who is or isn't in that category, They then make massive assumptions based on their parents and/or some Yuppies who have allegedly hoovered up all available property for financial gain, while a substantial portion of Baby Boomers are living in abject poverty, and clinging onto precarious rental situations, some living in their cars, etc.

Maireas · 03/09/2023 11:26

Also, the difference between men and women in that age range. If you're ethnic minority etc. Very different experiences and life outcomes.

Original poster
IClaudine · 03/09/2023 11:29

EveryKneeShallBow · 03/09/2023 09:38

I’m absolutely behind the calls for action over ageism on MN. And have many examples of my own. But I am equally conscious that ageism affects ALL ages. It is equally wrong to generalise about ignorant, aggressive youth, or badly behaved, tablet-addicted toddlers”. It’s lazy, and it should be called out.

But in real life the effects of ageism against older people are more stark. Employment for starters. The challenges of the physical environment. The lack of agency for some. Treatment of people in care homes. The ageism on this site is the thin edge of that wedge.

OP posts:
AutumnCrow · 03/09/2023 11:36

I also think that ageism in this country is inherently sexist as there are far more expectations of women's time, energy, free labour and resource-sacrifices than men's, when they are older.

Zipps · 03/09/2023 11:47

I see it most on finance posts and style and beauty.
Regards finance- it's not rocket science to get that older people on average will (should) have more wealth and a comfortable lifestyle. They've simply had much more time to acquire it and possibly had inheritance, paid off mortgage etc. But any suggestions that they may have struggled financially at some point in their life meets with some really nasty comments.
S&B - I'm X age, can I wear Y ? Type threads or comments about 'granny clothes/shoes' when many grandma's (including me 🙂) have the time and money to still look good. No age limit for fashion and style.

EveryKneeShallBow · 03/09/2023 11:49

@IClaudine I agree, I think I was trying (badly) to say that the way to tackle it is to recognise it in all its forms and work together to create a more integrated and inclusive society for everyone.

Maireas · 03/09/2023 11:50

Some of the S&B threads are awful. I've been absolutely flamed for arguing against the ageist terminology, such as "frumpy" clothes, "granny" clothes, or "that's for the dowdy over 50s". Nonsense. You don't lose an interest in style and fashion because of your age.

AutumnCrow · 03/09/2023 11:58

EveryKneeShallBow · 03/09/2023 11:49

@IClaudine I agree, I think I was trying (badly) to say that the way to tackle it is to recognise it in all its forms and work together to create a more integrated and inclusive society for everyone.

But a lot of women my age (60+) don't want an 'integrated and inclusive' society that leads to services where we have to include and defer to men. We want women's services that exclude men, such as well women's clinics, without being subjected to ageist and sexist criticism and slurs.

We'd like the rights we are supposed to have under the Equality Act 2010 to be upheld, in life and on social media.

So I don't think the way to combat ageism against women is some nebulous concept of 'inclusiveness', no. Look where that's got us.

ilovesooty · 03/09/2023 12:03

AutumnCrow · 03/09/2023 11:58

But a lot of women my age (60+) don't want an 'integrated and inclusive' society that leads to services where we have to include and defer to men. We want women's services that exclude men, such as well women's clinics, without being subjected to ageist and sexist criticism and slurs.

We'd like the rights we are supposed to have under the Equality Act 2010 to be upheld, in life and on social media.

So I don't think the way to combat ageism against women is some nebulous concept of 'inclusiveness', no. Look where that's got us.

Show quote history

I'm bothered by the ageist slurs and language and casual ageism on this site and the way it's being allowed.

EveryKneeShallBow · 03/09/2023 12:04

Okay, I don’t seem to be getting my point across very well, here. @AutumnCrow , I am a 60+ woman myself and I absolutely support the need for women only spaces. This is going off topic (ageism on MN specifically). So I’m out. All the best.

BIWI · 03/09/2023 12:09

@Maireas I reported the 'Karen' post/poster yesterday (the one about on the bus). Don't know if it was just my report, but it was deleted pretty swiftly after that.

Maireas · 03/09/2023 12:10

That's good.

Echobelly · 03/09/2023 12:11

I (gen X, 45) do think boomers are unfairly maligned and I do think a lot of this is to do with the fact a lot of the media is owned by very very wealthy, right-wing white male boomers who amplify their own opinions and thus give many people the impression that all boomers are wealthy, slagging off young people for being lazy and not understanding the challenges young people face etc and that's not true. After all, people have kids and grandkids and they know what they are up against, but the media amplifies the 'They just need to make their own coffee and tighten up the purse strings like we did and they can buy a house' types/

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/09/2023 12:11

to create a more integrated and inclusive society for everyone

Could you define what you mean by 'integrated and inclusive'? a definition of 'everyone' would be handy, as well.

MorrisZapp · 03/09/2023 12:14

Maireas · 03/09/2023 11:50

Some of the S&B threads are awful. I've been absolutely flamed for arguing against the ageist terminology, such as "frumpy" clothes, "granny" clothes, or "that's for the dowdy over 50s". Nonsense. You don't lose an interest in style and fashion because of your age.

On an individual basis, that is of course true. But in general terms, older people will dress with comfort in mind and younger people will wear current trends. I didn't want to dress like my gran when I was young, as she wore classic 'old lady' clothes, as did every other woman her age in her community.

If older people wanted to spend their money on cutting edge clothing then capitalism would step in and advertise this in eg the Radio Times, or the financial section of the Daily Telegraph. But those publications carry targeted advertising to their demographic, and the clothes are designed for comfort and washability.

As I said I'm 52 and I'm still twatting about in branded hoodies and this year's jeans shape. I don't intend to wear beige slacks anytime soon, my mother certainly doesn't.

But people's needs, tastes, priorities and resources change as they move through life stages. I don't dress like a teenager because I'm no longer in that life stage. That's not ageism, it's just demographic reality.