http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20014698-503544.html
I included this article after reading the angry response by an older woman that I posted earlier.
It can be viewed further down on my blog. This is about a senator that is completly out of touch
about Social Security and the people his cuts affect. He forgets we have all paid into this system
and for some, our entire lives.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Divorce, Older Women and Alimony
http://www.ebennettlaw.com/CM/Articles/DivorceOlderWomenAnd.asp
This article discusses the catch 22 that older divorced women face when they divorce later in
years and the court system expects them to go to work to support themselves. These are women
well into their 70s who were told by judges that their husbands deserve to retire. She gets no alimony
despite the fact that she was a stay at home wife.
This article discusses the catch 22 that older divorced women face when they divorce later in
years and the court system expects them to go to work to support themselves. These are women
well into their 70s who were told by judges that their husbands deserve to retire. She gets no alimony
despite the fact that she was a stay at home wife.
Women and Social Security Column
http://www.bothell-reporter.com/opinion/189934281.html
The column talks about the social security system and the benefits being available
for women well into their retirement. The statistics show 57% of all Social Security
beneficiaries age 62 and older, and approx. 68% of beneficiaries age 85 and older are
women recieving benefits. The article is dated February 5, 2013 by Kirk Larson.
The column talks about the social security system and the benefits being available
for women well into their retirement. The statistics show 57% of all Social Security
beneficiaries age 62 and older, and approx. 68% of beneficiaries age 85 and older are
women recieving benefits. The article is dated February 5, 2013 by Kirk Larson.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Unit III Blog Assignment
I found three of the readings used the Census as a basis for their research. Unfortunately, my experience with the US Census leaves me discouraged with the readings and their findings. Case in point, I have a daughter that is half Hispanic and two grandsons that are tri-racial. When I filled out the census back in the early 90s as noted in "The Economic Consequences of Widowhood for Older Minority Women," I was only given one choice to make for my daughter. I chose white since she lived with me. That in turn caused a census worker to arrive at my door, verify that I was white, noted my daughter looked Hispanic, and changed my information in front of me. I protested, but her response was that the city gets more money based on the number of minorities it holds. It didn't matter that my daughter would never receive a dime of that money.
This past census I was happy to note that I would be able to annotate all my children and grand children's races. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that the white race was only one box, and European Spaniards and Arabic people were also to consider themselves "white." The next block was Hispanic, where I was amazed to see about 25 choices. I selected Puerto Rican for my daughter and decided to go back to the white box and write Italian/English next to it. Then for my grandsons, I was given 3 choices as to what "black" they considered themselves. I'm not sure how they came up with the choices of "black," "African-American," or "Negro/Negroid." I wrote Liberian next to the black box. Just because it intrigued me, I looked over the Asian block. Yep, sub-categorized. This led me to believe the Census was skewed. Not even our bi-racial president is considered half black, half white, but instead seen only as a black man. The issue of race in a country that can only see skin deep leaves me hard pressed to give credibility to any race related research that doesn't properly consider the demographics of its' people. Starting at the top, our president.
In the reading, "Two Steps Back" the author doesn't discuss any entitlements the poor received throughout their child rearing years. I agree that these women, regardless of race, were unable to pay into the system the same, but how much money did they receive in entitlements as a result of not making a better wage, or less hours, if any? None of this information was incorporated into the research, but one could argue that they received their social security benefits in the form of welfare, child care assistance, section 8, food stamps, wic, etc. Many of these women have been in these programs through generations, and know how to play the system. The fact that they will earn less social security when they get older doesn't reflect that they may have earned far more from years of assistance.
"Late Life Widowhood, Selfishness and New Partnership Choices: A Gendered Perspective" was an article that I could relate to, with regard to selfishness. I'm not surprised to find that women that are widowed chose not to remarry, while men were more inclined to take another wife. The article noted, "The words 'selfish' and 'freedom' were often used by the widows when describing their present existence, which was associated with not having to look after someone all the time." Most of these women had been married for so long and in a subservient role, that knowing any freedom was foreign to them. I would hardly consider focusing on themselves, instead of having to continually give of themselves, as being selfish.
Of the readings, I found "Social Security and Older Women: A Feminist Political Economy Perspective" to be one I found more enjoyable, accurate, unbiased and thought provoking. I agreed with Carroll Estes' assessment that women stand to lose more should Social Security become privatized. Her reasoning's appeared more accurate to me, having never considered the time lost when I had my children. This forced me to think about those times I struggled out of work, didn't pay in through those years, and as a result, earned less income towards my retirement. On the other hand, I've always considered that Social Security would never be there for me anyway. The way the government has mismanaged it, and increased the age requirement to "fix" the problem, has affected a lot of future retiree's negatively. I personally consider it another tax, and one I'll never live long enough to see a return on. For this reason, I feel that I'll be working long into my retirement years just to support myself. I posted an earlier blog from a woman in Wyoming to her senator. Her angry response said it all!
I found three of the readings used the Census as a basis for their research. Unfortunately, my experience with the US Census leaves me discouraged with the readings and their findings. Case in point, I have a daughter that is half Hispanic and two grandsons that are tri-racial. When I filled out the census back in the early 90s as noted in "The Economic Consequences of Widowhood for Older Minority Women," I was only given one choice to make for my daughter. I chose white since she lived with me. That in turn caused a census worker to arrive at my door, verify that I was white, noted my daughter looked Hispanic, and changed my information in front of me. I protested, but her response was that the city gets more money based on the number of minorities it holds. It didn't matter that my daughter would never receive a dime of that money.
This past census I was happy to note that I would be able to annotate all my children and grand children's races. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that the white race was only one box, and European Spaniards and Arabic people were also to consider themselves "white." The next block was Hispanic, where I was amazed to see about 25 choices. I selected Puerto Rican for my daughter and decided to go back to the white box and write Italian/English next to it. Then for my grandsons, I was given 3 choices as to what "black" they considered themselves. I'm not sure how they came up with the choices of "black," "African-American," or "Negro/Negroid." I wrote Liberian next to the black box. Just because it intrigued me, I looked over the Asian block. Yep, sub-categorized. This led me to believe the Census was skewed. Not even our bi-racial president is considered half black, half white, but instead seen only as a black man. The issue of race in a country that can only see skin deep leaves me hard pressed to give credibility to any race related research that doesn't properly consider the demographics of its' people. Starting at the top, our president.
In the reading, "Two Steps Back" the author doesn't discuss any entitlements the poor received throughout their child rearing years. I agree that these women, regardless of race, were unable to pay into the system the same, but how much money did they receive in entitlements as a result of not making a better wage, or less hours, if any? None of this information was incorporated into the research, but one could argue that they received their social security benefits in the form of welfare, child care assistance, section 8, food stamps, wic, etc. Many of these women have been in these programs through generations, and know how to play the system. The fact that they will earn less social security when they get older doesn't reflect that they may have earned far more from years of assistance.
"Late Life Widowhood, Selfishness and New Partnership Choices: A Gendered Perspective" was an article that I could relate to, with regard to selfishness. I'm not surprised to find that women that are widowed chose not to remarry, while men were more inclined to take another wife. The article noted, "The words 'selfish' and 'freedom' were often used by the widows when describing their present existence, which was associated with not having to look after someone all the time." Most of these women had been married for so long and in a subservient role, that knowing any freedom was foreign to them. I would hardly consider focusing on themselves, instead of having to continually give of themselves, as being selfish.
Of the readings, I found "Social Security and Older Women: A Feminist Political Economy Perspective" to be one I found more enjoyable, accurate, unbiased and thought provoking. I agreed with Carroll Estes' assessment that women stand to lose more should Social Security become privatized. Her reasoning's appeared more accurate to me, having never considered the time lost when I had my children. This forced me to think about those times I struggled out of work, didn't pay in through those years, and as a result, earned less income towards my retirement. On the other hand, I've always considered that Social Security would never be there for me anyway. The way the government has mismanaged it, and increased the age requirement to "fix" the problem, has affected a lot of future retiree's negatively. I personally consider it another tax, and one I'll never live long enough to see a return on. For this reason, I feel that I'll be working long into my retirement years just to support myself. I posted an earlier blog from a woman in Wyoming to her senator. Her angry response said it all!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Unit II Reading
Reading these five articles, I noticed the dates on some were not very current. We've come a long way in just the past two decades. As a fifty year old women, I have seen these changes unfold within my lifetime. I would even say that today's younger woman would not have experienced the discrimination that women of my age and older have faced. That said, here is what I gathered from the readings.
The first article by Casalanti, "Age Matters Realigning Feminist Thinking," discussed "...the system of inequality, based on age, that privileges the not-old at the expense of the old." (pg. 1) It states that feminist scholars give little attention to old age and women. Agreeing with Sontag's notion of the double standard of aging that says women are judged by their appearance. This article says that "successful ageing means not aging, not being "old," or at the very least, not looking old." (pg.2) The latest reference from this article is dated 2004. I would like to believe that much has changed in the past decade with regard to women's awareness and studies into later life issues. We have many elderly entering the social security system. AARP, the senior citizen's organization, has done well for its members in congress and continues to lobby hard on their behalf. As more enter this organization, their rights are greater protected.
The second reading by Margaret Cruikshank, "Learning to be Old; Gender, Culture, and Aging" resonated more with me. "Learning to be old means knowing that the way you age depends on where you live" (pg 8) was on point. As Americans we have learned that as we get older we are devalued. Being self-reliant, or as the book noted, "rugged individualism" is a very real part of our culture. I would say that as a group of hard working immigrants, most all of our ancestors have made the trip here and learned to work hard to succeed. We were required to do this alone, with only family for our support. Many elderly now facing what painter and writer Mary Meigs faced, with insensitive treatment by caregivers, still gives me great fright. I watched as my very strong, independent grandmother, a hardworking Italian immigrant, was placed in one of these homes since the state deemed her dementia in need of constant care. It became a place where she lost her dignity, being strapped down because she refused to be placed in diapers and demanded to use the bathroom. Ultimately, drugged and placed in a corner until death took her. Ms. Meigs stated, "The old person becomes a person who can be disciplined. Lessons you must learn to have the dignity of someone who can't be disciplined." (Beyond Recall, 104) The Eden Alternative nursing home model would be a good start if we saw it implemented on a nationwide scale. This reading was dated in the late 90s and early 20s, well before Obama care and the future our elderly now face with death panels.
"The Aging Women in Popular Film: Underrepresented, Unattractive, Unfriendly and Unintelligent" was written in 1997. Also, Prochuk's, "Hell is Older People" review on horror movies and old women depicts them as witches; ghoulish and decaying. I would say again that while some of these stereotypes will always exist, they are not exclusive to elderly, nor elder women in general. Every group has Hollywood to blame for refusing to shatter these images. Whether it is the dumb blond, the cranky old man, the decaying elderly woman, the illiterate muscle man, etc. Today, we have more choices on what we desire to watch, thus telling Hollywood we no longer want to be entertained by these negative images. Good examples are BET, Black Entertainment Television that successfully changed the image of minorities. Placing them in roles as doctors, lawyers and good wholesome families. As for the older groups, I myself enjoy The Lifetime Channel. Betty White is an awesome actress that made her earlier success as the dumb blond, even in the later role on The Golden Girls. She is beautiful, witty, and sexy and currently kicking butt in her new roles on cable television. Not bad for a woman in her nineties!
Finally, "The Intersection of Age and Gender" by Krekula discusses studies conducted in Sweden. This study is more recent, 2007, but in a country well known to be gender forward. They were probably the first to socially consider women equal. Yet, the findings were that women were considered "others" compared to men. By doing so, we therefore become invisible. I felt the findings were subjective and could have been twisted to become what was needed. In no way did I consider these studies close to the trends American women have had to face. In a nation where we supposedly have the greatest freedoms, you can see that just viewing the female body here is deemed offensive. Where Muslim countries have had female presidents/leaders, we lag way behind on equality. It is time to do more in depth studies, in our current times to see where we have been, where we are now and what we need to do again to move forward.
Personally, I feel this country is stagnant as to the progressive movement of women. As more immigrants from oppressive countries enter ours, democracy demands majority rule. These women have lived under the umbrella of submission for so long that having little freedom seems wrong. As a result, we have started to move in the wrong direction, losing footing on our ability to attain equal status. Small strides are finally being made, only after many set backs. It almost feels like a revolution like the one in the sixties needs to happen again to make demands for equality. I hope someday that my daughters live in a country where they earn the same pay as their male counterparts, have better access to medicine geared towards their well being, are given the ability to do what they want with their bodies without justification, have a strong female leader and role model to move them forward to equality and live without fear of losing their identity.
The first article by Casalanti, "Age Matters Realigning Feminist Thinking," discussed "...the system of inequality, based on age, that privileges the not-old at the expense of the old." (pg. 1) It states that feminist scholars give little attention to old age and women. Agreeing with Sontag's notion of the double standard of aging that says women are judged by their appearance. This article says that "successful ageing means not aging, not being "old," or at the very least, not looking old." (pg.2) The latest reference from this article is dated 2004. I would like to believe that much has changed in the past decade with regard to women's awareness and studies into later life issues. We have many elderly entering the social security system. AARP, the senior citizen's organization, has done well for its members in congress and continues to lobby hard on their behalf. As more enter this organization, their rights are greater protected.
The second reading by Margaret Cruikshank, "Learning to be Old; Gender, Culture, and Aging" resonated more with me. "Learning to be old means knowing that the way you age depends on where you live" (pg 8) was on point. As Americans we have learned that as we get older we are devalued. Being self-reliant, or as the book noted, "rugged individualism" is a very real part of our culture. I would say that as a group of hard working immigrants, most all of our ancestors have made the trip here and learned to work hard to succeed. We were required to do this alone, with only family for our support. Many elderly now facing what painter and writer Mary Meigs faced, with insensitive treatment by caregivers, still gives me great fright. I watched as my very strong, independent grandmother, a hardworking Italian immigrant, was placed in one of these homes since the state deemed her dementia in need of constant care. It became a place where she lost her dignity, being strapped down because she refused to be placed in diapers and demanded to use the bathroom. Ultimately, drugged and placed in a corner until death took her. Ms. Meigs stated, "The old person becomes a person who can be disciplined. Lessons you must learn to have the dignity of someone who can't be disciplined." (Beyond Recall, 104) The Eden Alternative nursing home model would be a good start if we saw it implemented on a nationwide scale. This reading was dated in the late 90s and early 20s, well before Obama care and the future our elderly now face with death panels.
"The Aging Women in Popular Film: Underrepresented, Unattractive, Unfriendly and Unintelligent" was written in 1997. Also, Prochuk's, "Hell is Older People" review on horror movies and old women depicts them as witches; ghoulish and decaying. I would say again that while some of these stereotypes will always exist, they are not exclusive to elderly, nor elder women in general. Every group has Hollywood to blame for refusing to shatter these images. Whether it is the dumb blond, the cranky old man, the decaying elderly woman, the illiterate muscle man, etc. Today, we have more choices on what we desire to watch, thus telling Hollywood we no longer want to be entertained by these negative images. Good examples are BET, Black Entertainment Television that successfully changed the image of minorities. Placing them in roles as doctors, lawyers and good wholesome families. As for the older groups, I myself enjoy The Lifetime Channel. Betty White is an awesome actress that made her earlier success as the dumb blond, even in the later role on The Golden Girls. She is beautiful, witty, and sexy and currently kicking butt in her new roles on cable television. Not bad for a woman in her nineties!
Finally, "The Intersection of Age and Gender" by Krekula discusses studies conducted in Sweden. This study is more recent, 2007, but in a country well known to be gender forward. They were probably the first to socially consider women equal. Yet, the findings were that women were considered "others" compared to men. By doing so, we therefore become invisible. I felt the findings were subjective and could have been twisted to become what was needed. In no way did I consider these studies close to the trends American women have had to face. In a nation where we supposedly have the greatest freedoms, you can see that just viewing the female body here is deemed offensive. Where Muslim countries have had female presidents/leaders, we lag way behind on equality. It is time to do more in depth studies, in our current times to see where we have been, where we are now and what we need to do again to move forward.
Personally, I feel this country is stagnant as to the progressive movement of women. As more immigrants from oppressive countries enter ours, democracy demands majority rule. These women have lived under the umbrella of submission for so long that having little freedom seems wrong. As a result, we have started to move in the wrong direction, losing footing on our ability to attain equal status. Small strides are finally being made, only after many set backs. It almost feels like a revolution like the one in the sixties needs to happen again to make demands for equality. I hope someday that my daughters live in a country where they earn the same pay as their male counterparts, have better access to medicine geared towards their well being, are given the ability to do what they want with their bodies without justification, have a strong female leader and role model to move them forward to equality and live without fear of losing their identity.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
"A little ticked off"
*Not sure if either statement is true, but I agree with the comments (minus the labels)
Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana... I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is! Both political parties have raped our Social Security!
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight!!!!!
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole (tit) for FIFTY YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and "your ilk" pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age, 67. NOW, you and your "shill commission" are proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now "you morons" propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because "you idiots" mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal our money from Medicare to pay the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you "incompetent bastards" spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" to your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU:
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" to your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU:
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcase thieves who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers.
And for what? Votes and your job and retirement security at our expense, you lunk-headed, leech.
That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted
America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
P.S. And stop calling Social Security benefits
"entitlements". WHAT AN INSULT!!!!
"entitlements". WHAT AN INSULT!!!!
I have been paying in to the SS system for 45 years “It's my money”- give it back to me the way the system was designed and stop patting yourself on the back like you are being generous by doling out these monthly checks!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Introduction/Ageism readings
In the article, "America's Aging
Population" I noted the age span used to defined baby boomers. It always amazes me how the age span is
different depending on which article you're reading. Having been born in 1962, I hardly considered
myself a baby boomer. I immediately
noted that this article included my age group which offended me. I've always considered my parents to be baby
boomers, and my generation the one that will support them while generation X
comes up with a better plan for their retirement.
The
article did bring up many points about how other cultures take care of their
elderly. In addition to many statistics
about life expectancy between the genders, races, and even social standings,
the information contained interesting facts about cultures and roles of women
within those areas. I was not very
surprised by the numbers, or the closing gap between men and women. It gave good information about living healthier
lifestyles and how that contributes to living longer.
In the
text, "Is There A Double Standard Of Aging?: Older Men And Women And Ageism" by
Chetna Narayan, it discussed the term "ageism." I never put a lot of thought into the need
for a word for growing older, but the definition developed by Butler made sense
for its time, specifically 1969. It
describes the biases and discrimination directed toward the elderly. The results from the Aging Semantic
Differential (ASD) didn't surprise me. I
do feel that the term does need to be redefined. The results of the survey should be an
indication that not all people are compelled to believe the bias' out
there. I did appreciate how the headings
to the surveys may have affected the results, but seeing the numbers listed, I
don't think it an accurate assessment. I
believe the locations the surveys were conducted would have had a greater
influence. For example, the central plains
where religion is heavily regarded would make me believe they take better care
of their elderly than the Northeast, where the pace is much faster.
Finally,
I liked Susan Sontag's "The Double Standard of Aging." She discusses the differences men and women
face when aging. I found it interesting
that she felt women feel more anxious and aware of their mortality than
men. Also that woman hesitates when
asked to reveal their age as if it would create a problem for her in the eyes
of the person asking. I do believe there
is a double standard, but some of those barriers are slowly coming down. No longer is it just the silver foxes having
a good time. Welcome to the age of the
cougar and the empowerment of older women.
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