Middle Age: Positive vs. Negative

[BethelTraumaRN]

So, according to our book & studies, apparently middle age is a POSITIVE thing for MEN, and a NEGATIVE thing for WOMEN.

Why do ya'll think that is?

Just curious to find out opinions....I'm not asking because I need an answer for a paper or test or anyting.

xoxo

Amb

[cheewiee]

So, according to our book & studies, apparently middle age is a POSITIVE thing for MEN, and a NEGATIVE thing for WOMEN.

Why do ya'll think that is?

Just curious to find out opinions....I'm not asking because I need an answer for a paper or test or anyting.

xoxo

Amb

How can anyone think that the middle ages were a positive thing... lets see you had serfdom, an overbearing powerhungry religious establishment encroaching on the rights of kings, and pesants alike. You had things like the Black Death killing millions world wide. You had never ending strife, turmoil and conflict between warring clans. You had the crusades, and the barbarism of middle age torture devices used by the wicked and cruel...

Oh Wait....

Middle age... I get it...


nevermind....

I am only 29.. so I don't think I am qualified to talk about being middle aged...


:blush:

[BethelTraumaRN]

^ Oh.My.Word...That was a scary rant you had there! *LOL*

I'm not middle age by any stretch...I'm only 21, but I don't get the positive for one, negative for the other thing...hmm...

[mammo girl]

Some middle age men I see have dumped their wives for younger ones, gotten 2 seater sports cars, and basically, are acting like children. So maybe they see that as a positive.

I don't know about the women seeing it as a negative unless they let it bother them. I feel like I'm more mature to a point and I'm enjoying my age.
But that's just me.

[BethelTraumaRN]

^I've seen that, and it's sick...

But I guess I'm wondering like, why is middle age so great for men overall? Like, is it cos they have more money, more leisure time? I can see the negative for women, cos they're not looking as hot as they used to (no offence to anyone. I'm sure all you middle aged women are beautiful ;p) and physical appearence is very important to females.

*sigh* It's such a mystery...LOL

[Jason]

I'll tell you in a couple years. ;)

[middletree]

Some middle age men I see have dumped their wives for younger ones, gotten 2 seater sports cars, and basically, are acting like children.

This is a stereotype, but I don't think it happens any more often than women doing the same thing. In fact, I know of 3 marriages where the wife did this, but none where a husband did this.

[NurseBettyLu]

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm pretty positive. I'm actually excited about turning fifty in August. Major partying. I may even buy a convertable.

[Mandy Robbins]

I'll be 30 this year, but I've felt 30 since I was 25. I guess it's not really the age of the car, it's the mileage you've put on it.

It has affected me though. I told my husband last week I wanted another baby. He told me he wanted a new truck and bass boat.

We'll see who wins...
(prayers would be appreciated by the way)

[triplet mom]

Let's see...gray hair, wrinkles, sore joints, cholesterol, blood pressure, failing eyesight, memory loss...it pretty much sucks.
:) :) :)

[Mandy Robbins]

Let's see...gray hair, wrinkles, sore joints, cholesterol, blood pressure, failing eyesight, memory loss...it pretty much sucks.
:) :) :)


No that's the good part, with the failing eyesight you can't see the gray hair wrinkles, and with the memory loss, you just forget the rest.

Like the lady that came out of surgery and yelled at the hospital staff saying they were theives because they stole her nice wig and replaced it with a cheap ratty looking one...... The doctor replied that evidently her cataract surgery was a success!

[Yippy]

So, according to our book & studies, apparently middle age is a POSITIVE thing for MEN, and a NEGATIVE thing for WOMEN.


Maybe because women get to go through menopause and peri-menopause, which, for most, is a scary thing, because it can affect you mentally as well as physically and last 10-15 years.. Not only do you basically fall apart, but you get to revisit teen-age acne and gain 20 lbs. for no apparent reason. Not only that, men get distinguished as they age and women get old. Enjoy your 20s and 30s with relish...exercise a lot and start taking care of your skin NOW!

I'm thankful I have a husband who is extremely kind and understanding...and definitely distinguished.;) :D

[kiwisongbird]

Yeah, I agree! Men get really quite mmmmmm looking as they get a bit older - esp if they don't get fat and somehow everything on us just tends to fall down down down...

The positive for women though is that we can talk about it with our friends, don't think men can - I think men have some kind of change things happen too, but aren't so aware of it and don't talk about it....

I'm looking forward to being fifty cos I want to start a red hat club here in SE Asia and the freedom of being older with older kids and all that stuff - yahoo, look out world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bit freaked out about all the memory stuff and weird behaviour and stuff like that, but you know what ???? not anything I can help so I think I'll just try to flow with it all - well that's the plan now I'm 47 anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BethelTraumaRN]

It sounds like ya'll have pretty much killed that "assumption" ;p

I'm only 21 and I already feel SO old..I went insane when I turned 20 cos I felt like I was getting old...21 does NOT help!

[Yippy]

not anything I can help so I think I'll just try to flow with it all - well that's the plan now I'm 47 anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THat's my plan, too. I'm not crazy about HRT or other drugs. I just recognize the symptoms for what they are and usually wait them out. I take naproxen for the migraines and tylenol pm now and then. I'm thankful my husband and I have good sense of humours, because it really comes in handy! I can just give him a look that says, "Please don't mess with me right now..I love you...thank you for understanding...now give me a wide berth.":D

21 is NOT old. I didn't start "feeling" it until I was about 43. The sad thing is, the older I get, the younger my mind seems to be. I have to keep reminding myself (when my body isn't in pain) that I'm as old as I am. The junior section isn't appropriate and I'm always in shock when I look in the mirror...:D (I still shop in the junior section now and then...I don't care)

[tugboat]

The good thing for us menz'z is.......they don't have a junior section at Bass Pro Shop!

[triplet mom]

Maybe because women get to go through menopause and peri-menopause, which, for most, is a scary thing, because it can affect you mentally as well as physically and last 10-15 years.. Not only do you basically fall apart, but you get to revisit teen-age acne and gain 20 lbs. for no apparent reason. Not only that, men get distinguished as they age and women get old. Enjoy your 20s and 30s with relish...exercise a lot and start taking care of your skin NOW!

I'm thankful I have a husband who is extremely kind and understanding...and definitely distinguished.;) :D

Yes, if the men think PMS is bad...wait until that other season of life.

On the other hand, I'm totally enjoying my age, despite all the things I have to do to take care of myself. It's been a total BLAST, and I'm looking forward to the next decade, too!
:) :) :)

[sandie]

That reminds me of an IM conversation with the Director of Studies at our parent college. He made a comment about PMS (the male owner of the colleges is erratic) and I asked the other DOS if he got PMS. The answer: indirectly! (I'm glad that our conversations disappear so there is no incriminating evdence.) :D

Middle age isn't that exciting. I resisted wearing glasses until I was 50 and now I'm dependent upon them. :( It's easy to put on weight and hard to take it off. However, my sense of humour remains intact and I have no intention of listening to swing music or country and western! :o

[kiwisongbird]

The young mind thing, isn't it weird?? I feel younger now than I have for about ten or fifteen years! I don't think it's sad though, I think it's wonderful and looking forward to more of the same!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Youthwker]

This is something Andy ROoney said, he ends it in a crude way, but essentially he is right.


A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting. Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

[kiwisongbird]

Ended in a crude way but very very funny!!!!!!!!!!!!

[luvmyrottie]

So far, I'm liking middle age. It just seems weird that I am middle aged because I sure don't feel like I thought I would feel. I still feel young! And Diane, I too, still shop the juniors dept. sometimes! I'm loving the grandparent thing and being able to speak my mind and no one looks at me funny. Older people get to say what they think. I've always been afraid to speak up, but I'm getting better at it now. I think middle age has been very liberating!

[Rosie]

Oh boy, can I relate to this thread! Forty something here. I'd tell you precisely how old, but most days I can't remember.... 45 or is it 46? I dunno. I can't say exactly how middle age is treating my DH, but I do know I seem to be the only one plucking grey hairs out of my head with one hand while I'm looking for miracle face lift tricks with the other. In many ways, getting older has been liberating. I feel wiser, calmer, more confident, etc etc...

On the other hand, it's frustrating to me that, just when I figure out how to use it all... I start to lose it. :confused:

[Andi]

I turned 40 in February and have two pre-schoolers! I have to say for me that "middle-age" is so so so much better than (what would it be called? "lower-age"? or possibly "beginning-age"? hehehe) anyway - better than my 20s and 30s! I have to admit though the the ole memory is going alittle - and the hip hurts every other day - and my neck makes an awful grinding sound when I turn my head to the left (yes - only the left...strange) - and I am dead tired usually by 9:00 each night. But STILL! I have to say that middle-age is awesome! :cool: :D ;)

~Andi

*yawns* Is it 9:00 yet???

[kiwisongbird]

Ha!!! You think it's middle age making you dead tired???? I would imagine it's more the two pre-schoolers........um, hang on, I'm still dead tired by 9pm and my kids are 10, 12 and 14 -could be middle age....

oh but it's wonderful when you kids can all feed and wash and clothe themselves!!! :) :) :)

[Yippy]

Ha!!! You think it's middle age making you dead tired???? I would imagine it's more the two pre-schoolers........um, hang on, I'm still dead tired by 9pm and my kids are 10, 12 and 14 -could be middle age....

Children in general make you tired. From the time they're born til you die. It doesn't matter how old they are! The second they're born, you know a different kind of tired that doesn't go away. When they're younger, it's a physical kind of tired...when they hit tweens and on, it becomes a mental kind of tired. It doesn't help to hit menopause the same time your daughter hits teenhood, either...:D The given answer to "How are you?" is "Tired and -fill in the blank-" I just talked myself into a nap...:D I'm so tired.

[sandie]

I turned 40 in February and have two pre-schoolers! I have to say for me that "middle-age" is so so so much better than (what would it be called? "lower-age"? or possibly "beginning-age"? hehehe) anyway - better than my 20s and 30s! I have to admit though the the ole memory is going alittle - and the hip hurts every other day - and my neck makes an awful grinding sound when I turn my head to the left (yes - only the left...strange) - and I am dead tired usually by 9:00 each night. But STILL! I have to say that middle-age is awesome! :cool: :D ;)

~Andi

*yawns* Is it 9:00 yet???

When I got my current job, the Director of Studies who hired me mentioned that he and his wife had had "an accident". He's 41, running a busy college, with a daughter about to do her Higher School Certificate but keen to party instead, a son two years younger, and an active 14 month old daughter. He and his wife thought that they were through most of their parenting, but with Isabella, they have to go through all those years of Primary School and Secondary School. She's a little cutie, however, and is the photo displayed on her father's Messenger Service log in. :)

[mcgreen311]

How can anyone think that the middle ages were a positive thing... lets see you had serfdom, an overbearing powerhungry religious establishment encroaching on the rights of kings, and pesants alike. You had things like the Black Death killing millions world wide. You had never ending strife, turmoil and conflict between warring clans. You had the crusades, and the barbarism of middle age torture devices used by the wicked and cruel...

Hehe...sorry, that's my field of study...<insert ninja smilie>.

[BobC]

I`m 1 year 6 months away from the "big five ooooh"I would not want to go back to my teens or twentys for anything.
I like thing the way they are.

[HotWireD]

Some middle age men I see have dumped their wives for younger ones, gotten 2 seater sports cars, and basically, are acting like children. So maybe they see that as a positive.

I don't know about the women seeing it as a negative unless they let it bother them. I feel like I'm more mature to a point and I'm enjoying my age.
But that's just me.

I am in my forties and behave like a child...

...but then again, I have always behaved like a child.

Aching joints are a pain, my bones predict the weather for me now - how cool is that!

I have to agree about people's view of age - I just get a day older every day and do not really think about it.

If someone asks me my age I have to calculate it before I reply. I once told a police officer that I was 21, then, ten minutes later, I had to correcy myself and I said "28". He got really suspicious - until I told him that no one had asked me my age for several years and I had not kept count.

The one thing about middle age that I do notice is that most of the police officers I have dealings with were not even out of pre-school when I started work!

[R. Smith]

Well, I'm 34...but I've been told I look like I'm in my 20's. And I don't think 34 is middle age, not yet anyways. And I currently have no kids...

All I know is, I better be married by the time I am 40. It sucks being single; most of the Ladies my age are married already. Where does that leave me???

-Roger