NotNormativelyHuman 225
misconceptions are at some level ideologically driven as well. The
authority of these false descriptions of age exists in the young. (Combe
andSchmader83)This last quote shows one more time the emotional intensities
involved in the relations between young and old. Exciting as the
contours of a "new aging" have been, they should not be allowed to
"culture-jam" (Brennan 528) the critical perspective on the material
dimensionofnewage-relatednormativities.
Rather, the inventions by Katz, Meyrowitz, and also my own
(Kunow,"Wertkörper")areamuchcalled-forreminderthatnewcultural
norms for "successful aging" effectively mask the economic realities of
elder life, especially in the United States, at a time that is marked by
severe cuts in entitlement programs. The cuts legitimated or at least
masked by the new "age" normal make it impossible for many senior
peopletoattainthepromisesheldoutbyvisionsof"ThirdAge."Rather,
"current popular depictions, particularly in advertising, of the elderly
enjoying their 'golden years' in secure if not downright opulent
retirement... certainly do not represent the economic reality of all
elderly people" (Combe and Schmader 104); they have the additional—
ideological—effectofproducinganew,spectralnormalityofseniorlife
in the U.S. which effectively hides the increasing precarity of elderly
people,especiallythoseoutsidethemiddleclass.
Asespeciallytheserecentdevelopmentsshow,"oldage"andthevarious
terms used with it interchangeably—the current PC term seems to be
"chronologically gifted"^65 —but also senescence, later life, elderhood,
etc. are highly suggestive signifiers that open up a wide variety of
references, which cannot be contained in the socio-ontological question
of"howoldisold?"andwhichdonotdojusticetothedeeplygendered
natureoflatelifeexperience.WhichbringsusbacktowhatIreferredto
above as the "age chill factor." As I noted then, very few people speak
about "old age" (their own or another person's) with equanimity, and
withgoodreason.
(^65) This is a PC term that has achieved wide currency among advocacygroups,
and also as a self-description of the elderly. Cf.Old Age Jokes or Humour for
theChronologicallyGifted-Yourchoice!Blogger,2016.Web.23Apr.2017.