What Is Ageism
Ageism is a social disease.
![](https://oloc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gloria_and_Donna_2017-10-29.png)
ARE YOU AGEIST?
Do you consider “young” a compliment and “old” a derogatory synonym for ugly, decrepit, out-of-date (“You don’t look your age.”)?
Do you speak/do for an Old Lesbian instead of letting her speak/do for herself and assume she needs help?
Do you view an Old Lesbian either as a burden or an icon, rather than as an equal with whom a reciprocal relationship is desirable?
Do you patronize a courageous Old Lesbian by trivializing her anger as “feistiness?” (Would you call Superman “feisty?”)
Do you categorize an outspoken Old Lesbian as “complaining,” “difficult,” or “crotchety?”
![](https://oloc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Vickie-Marion-Bea_2014.jpg)
Do you assume that an Old Lesbian is asexual?
Are you unsupportive of an Old Lesbian looking for a partner, or disrespectful of an Old Lesbian’s choice to be single?
Do you refrain from confronting ageist remarks because they are “not really meant that way?”
— The author, Mary M. Morgan, participates in a national movement to end ageism. Its members always give their age when they write or speak.
Mary M. Morgan was born September 10, 1925 and died January 30, 2015.