by Peter Beresford
Note: Blog first posted on 15 October
Christmas comes early in capitalist Britain. So as I was wandering unthinkingly through my local BHS (British Home Stores), I was drawn to the capacious Xmas product display giving me months of advanced planning time for my festive giving.
(Perhaps there’s a moral here for chuggers as they mug pedestrian passers-by to inflate the already overstuffed coffers of the corporate charities which employ them. They could start sticking sprigs of holly and mistletoe in their coats and clipboards – or indeed more painful places – better to separate those on limited incomes from their hard gained cash to keep their £100k charity CEOs going.)
This time though there was a new feature to BHS’s seasonal display. First though, there’s a question I must ask. What’s the acceptable face of discrimination, oppression and prejudice in our society? No, not racism, because however much people and institutions continue to practice it, they at least seem to know that they shouldn’t be doing so. Gender? Nothing wrong with a bit of subordinating titillation still seems to be the view that holds, but there’s also an awareness you’d better be careful if you don’t want to have to deal with too many angry women. Sexuality? Be careful – mustn’t forget the value of the ‘pink pound’. Disability? ‘Well they’ve got the bloody DDA haven’t they. PC gone mad, so better be just a little bit careful’. But of course, age and ageing – now that’s a free fire zone.
So what do I see before me on the festive shelves of BHS? A whole series of brightly badged goodies with the headline brand of Over The Hill. Isn’t it fun? What a laugh! There’s so much to choose from. You might be tempted by the Over The Hill Hearing Aid: You’re already old, Do you really want to be deaf too? (cue for chortle) Or there’s Over The Hill Magnivision: a large pair of joke specs. Why not try Over The Hill Wrinkle Remover, badged as ‘old sucks’ My personal favourite in the series was Over The Hill Do It Yourself Erectile Dysfunction kit: some balloons with string: Use multiple balloons for multiple strength? I don’t think Jimmy Carr could be funnier.
To be truthful I haven’t bothered contacting the PR, customer complaints or any possible anti-discrimination departments of BHS. Doubtless in these ironic postmodern days they’d either have some explanation of incomprehensible logic and complexity to offer, or they’d gently hint at my need for a sense of humour implant. What worries me most is that enough of us may carry so much alienation and internalised oppression that we’re expected gladly to give these horrors to each other or to older people we love, like turkeys voting for Christmas. And then that many older people may feel obliged to be appreciative when they get them.
This rubbish isn’t funny. It’s just offensive. Older people don’t qualify as figures of fun. Ageing may have its humorous side but ridiculing older people is out of order. We really have to hope that something or somebody opens BHS’s eyes soon and they get this discriminatory tat off their shelves well before we start sitting down for the turkey, stuffing and pud, the vegetarian alternative or whatever our cultural preference is, for the festive season. I’d wish you a happy Christmas, but we’ve still got Halloween and Bonfire Night to go yet!
I'll ask my 87 year old Mum what she thinks. She puts most over 40's to shame with her activities. She does have lunch at Age Concern because she collects her 70ish friend from her nursing home to bring her back to see her friends. "This is becoming an awful habit" Mum says and frankly stops her from gardening. Incidentally she started her newest garden at the age of 83 and could put most 40 plus garden to shame.
Well she does use the bus as well as drive her car [ She had a new one last year and would have liked a Smart car but has to take people everywhere] If only someone would give her the money that she is trying to raise for a new St John's Ambulance frankly I get bored with her committee meetings and social activities which raise only a few pounds at a time. She would like a bit of what the McCann camp have but then she's only an old person who chuckles at the idea of sampling Television X.
Soon she'll be bopping at the 1970's disco as she did at her Grand daughters Tea dance.
You see to her age is irrelevant, she had all the childhood diseases, was a WAAF during the war stationed in the far east. Reads books that would embarrass much younger people. So I'll try to remember to ask her about the BHS images but then I'll probably forget as her memory is much better than mine.
Rachel Mulcahy
Get a life, mate. People like you are taking all the fun out of life. I'm over 50 and I don't mind at all having the mickey taken out of me for gray hair etc etc. These products are supposed to be a laugh, and should be taken as such. There are MUCH MUCH more important things in life to get worked up about
Arnold
Life is a terminal condition. No one gets out of it alive. If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined. I'm over 60 and although some of this stuff doesn't appeal to me, that's choice, not predjudice. People will vote with their cash. If no one bought it, it wouldn't get made.
There are far more insidious instances of ageism that go unchalleneged every day. Let's focus our attention on those.
Moya