“For age is an opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars invisible by day.”
Through these lines Henry Wadsworth Longfellow conveys that ageing is inevitable and how preferable it is to cherish and take pride in the maturity that comes along with age. Aging is a natural and gradual process and yet the physical and mental deterioration associated with aging are dreaded and very few welcome this phase with grace. Ageism is a negative attitude that regards elderly individuals as non-contributing burdens on society. Medical advancements and other healthcare improvements have escalated the human life expectancy in the last few decades. Increasing longevity is an achievement if and only “life” is added to these bonus years. Medical science being a male dominant profession for ages failed in understanding female biology. In a gradual and subtle manner, the earlier doctors, constructed certain myths that resonated with the existing idea of the inferiority of the female body and mind. The then socially rampant gender related partisanship reflected in the medical field as less referrals for further investigations in case of a woman patient. Even today very often a women’s illness is off handedly designated as psychologically or emotionally effectuated. Women’s pain and healthcare need an outsider’s authentication to be taken seriously.
Dr Delony Manuvel Ph.D.
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