Are You Afraid of Aging?
I love salty women – especially older women; hence my affection for Joan Rivers. I love her self deprecation, her fearlessness, and of course, her sense of humor. At 79, she is as sassy and raunchy as ever!
Over the past several weeks, Joan has been on the press circuit promoting her new book, I Hate Everyone… Starting With Me. I haven’t read Joan’s best-selling book, (Joan, if you’re reading this, can you send me a copy?) but I am planning on purchasing it with my next Amazon order. To read an excerpt of the book, click here.
I’ve always admired Joan’s career, and after seeing her on a recent episode of “The View”, I started researching her stand-up acts. (Thank God for YouTube!) Clip after clip, I noticed a recurring theme: Joan hates the aging process. She vividly explains what happens to our minds and bodies with her comedic wit. Here’s one of my favorite quips from Joan: “Age, and it will happen to all of you. The body drops. My breasts… I could have a mammogram and a pedicure at the same time. Yes. You know what drops? This is horrible. Do you know what really drops first? The vagina. No one tells you. The vagina drops. I woke up six months ago I went – why am I wearing a bunny slipper – and why is it gray?”
In this stand-up bit, Joan also states that “nothing bothers men.” Joan, I love you; however, I respectfully disagree.
I’m terrified of growing old. I don’t want my vagina (or breasts) to drop. The thought of turning gray “down there” brings a tear to my eye. I’m afraid of losing my sharp cognitive skills… As I expressed my sadness to my husband on this subject, I asked him if he feared the aging process. I also asked him if men ponder the loss of vitality and elasticity the same way that women do. Rob’s response did not surprise me. He said, “All men think about getting older. We just don’t talk about it the way that women do. I don’t want to think about my balls sagging to my knees, do you?”
Men, what do you think? Are you afraid of growing old? Are you trying to prevent the aging process?
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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40 Comments on "Poll: Men, Are You Afraid of Growing Old?"
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Well there are many of us good men today that really wanted to find a good wife to marry and have a family, but with so many women nowadays that are very high maintenance, independent, selfish, spoiled, and very greedy, is the reason why many of us are all alone now which most of us are Not single by choice.
I think for men it’s more about a loss of ability and strength than a loss of looks (though that definitely plays a part). As a runner and someone who stays active, I worry I might not be able to do five-minute miles or go to the gym regularly as I get older. And if I’m not fit, what will I become?
I haven’t read the rest of the thread, but I must admit; as a 30 year old man, very recently separated with a son, I am terrified of growing old. I am more scared of growing old alone than I am of death. Voted yes.
So, the notion that “nothing bothers” men when it comes to aging is dispelled. With age there seem that the fear of death and the fear of declining health and declining looks are pretty evenly distributed among the commenters here.
So, how about women? I guess the stereotype is that women are most afraid of their looks when it comes to aging. Are the grey bunny slipper and other sagging really the most scary thing about getting older for women?
Excellent post and glad to hear you made it. I had a worrisome health issue a few years ago that could have been cancer and it scared me through and through. I only wish I had learned longer lasting lessons from my experience. Even though I’ve calmed down substantially and tried to make myself a better father and husband, I could be doing better. I hope I can make it to 64 and see my grand kids one day.
I fear getting older but I know the only alternative is far worse than gray hair and bad knees.
Well that’s exactly what I’m doing. I turn 21 in a few weeks and I am in absolutely no rush whatsoever. I realise how beautiful things can be. Spending time with friends and family is the most worthwhile thing in this world.
For me personally, until about a year ago, I was expecting to be dead by 30. Primarily anticipating being a victim of police violence. But being 28 now and not quite as staunch an activist as I was, I am actually starting to take care of my body. On the other hand, looking at things like global warming and such, I still don’t expect to live past 45.
[…] These are comments by William Harryman, drood, and Jamie Parsons on the post “Poll: Men, Are You Afraid of Growing Old?“ […]
Yeah, I fear getting old, or should I say OLDER! I’m already 58, in constant back and joint pain, getting more’forgetfull’ every day. Hey Bill, you think having kids and a wife means they’ll be someone to take care of you when you’re old? Once you can’t provide, you become a ‘burden’, and as we all know, ‘burdens’ are shipped off to the nursing homes. Better to keep a .357 by your bed in case you need to ‘help things along’!
No, I don’t think that. That is my point. It’s a crapshoot at best, but if you’re male the odds are even worse because of the anti-male marriage/divorce system.
No, I’m not affraid of aging. The only thing that truly saddens me about growing old is knowing that someday either me or my wife will live without the other (for some unknown period of time).
Ideally, if we both age in good health and remain self-sufficent, I’d like to expire on our own accord at the same time. If someone could promise me that ending I would welcome the Reaper with open arms when the time came.
To be honest, I don’t think I’ll live past my early 40’s. My father died at 42, and I have that in my head as the end of my lifespan. I realize that it seems crazy to think I’ll never make it past my early 40’s, but I have that as a reference point in my head because that is when he died. I’m in a rush in life, because I am worried I won’t squeeze in a whole life’s worth of accomplishments and experience before my early 40’s.
Yes, I am 41 and I worry about prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s, lack of mobility…
@ Bill – solid point about nursing homes. Scary stuff… We’ve all heard reports about the gross negligence I’d rather be dead than live in that system.
You do realize there are women in the same boat as you? Never married, divorced or widowed, no kids and will end up in a nursing home with no family to care for them. It’s not all about the MRAs obsession with divorce. It’s about he fact that as more people are not in traditional families, for whatever reason, society isn’t ready to deal with the growing number of elderly childless singles and their needs.
Terrified. Unlike most here, I’m even willing to cop to the (mostly) vain reasons for it. I don’t want to get wrinkles. I don’t want to have to put in ever-increasing amounts of exercise to have a body half as nice as when I was 20. I’m not a very hairy person, and I’d like to keep it that way, too. I go to the dentist regularly, but I’m still terrified of losing my teeth.
To be honest, I’m kinda short and plenty poor. Good looks are all I’ve got going for me.
But who is to say elderly men do not have good looks?
The man in the picture at the top of this article doesn’t look bad or unhealthy. Most importantly, he looks happy.
@Soullite …oh yeah, the hair, I’m loaded with it. I was sitting next to a doctor on a flight and I asked him a question about hair. I’m losing my hair on my head but gaining a hell of a lot more on my back. So why is it that my body can produce hair on “other” places when I can’t keep it on my head? He shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a magazine to read.
I am not crazy about the ideas of getting gray, wrinkling and such but I truly can’t stop it anymore than I can death itself. The one fear I have in growing older is loss of mental facilities. Alzheimer’s runs in my family and the thought or idea of having it happen to me terrifies me. I actually try not to concentrate on it too much. I watched my family go through that and how it effected everyone. I seriously wouldn’t want to place my family in the same position.
Aaron
I won’t mind at all being old. The only fear I have of old age is losing my wits. My grandfather is 85 and still a strong, working man. In fact I think if it turns out well, growing old with a family and looking after children and grandchildren sounds idyllic. Also the looks aren’t bad either. White hair, beards, even baldness can look awesome with old age.
Growing old doesn’t bother me (but I’m only 45). FEELING old would bother me. As long as I remain curious about all the things I don’t know and haven’t done, as long as I have energy and strength (I am religious about working out and eating well), and as long as I feel good about what each day has to offer, I can handle gray hair, some wrinkles, and trifocals.
I can’t to grow old. Now being elderly is a different story. If I could stay around 55 I would love it.