The Houston Chronicle

January 25, 2004

Spread of Anti-Aging Trend is Getting Old

By Jane Glenn Haas

This was bound to happen.

A German brewery has developed a beer with vitamins and minerals and plans to market the concoction as "anti-aging-bier."

"Healthy" beer may go against the grain, says the German government, citing a law dating to 1516 mandating that beer brewed in Germany can only be made from barley, hops, wheat and water.

Whatever.

It isn't the recipe; it's the concept that's a concern.

"Anti-aging" has long been a peculiarly American fetish. Our films, television programs, music, celebrity worship revolve around youth worship as if we have little or no regard for the wisdom and experience that comes with longevity. Old people often are viewed as taking from the public trough and contributing little to society.

But Europe? Asia? Old age has status and stature in these cultures. Doesn't it?

"Not anymore," says Ken Dychtwald. The futurist and psychologist who wrote Age Wave and Age Power says exporting our culture is transforming the world.

Our style, our look, our attitudes toward sex ooze from films, TV shows and Internet sites. And it has impact.

Women everywhere want to be Beyonce.

Swell.

The result is chilling.

"Ageless cultures are going ageist," he says.

Advertisements in England, France, Japan and Germany are "overemphasizing youth and portraying older adults as silly and without future," Dychtwald says.

Cheapening of age is happening at the same time the world is getting older.

Within 20 years, one in every five people will be 60 or older. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan labels it a "demographic revolution."

Those of us claiming a few years over 50 already are showing our mettle.

People are working longer. AARP has declared that "60 is the new 30." Movies like Calendar Girls and Something's Gotta Give celebrate love after 50.

But it ain't enough, Dychtwald says.

"Acceptance of aging has made some progress here in the last 10 years," he says. "But American business still has no concept of the size and enormous spending power of the mature population. And this disregard for mature people is mirrored in the media."

Now, there's a difference between being ageist and not wanting to show your age.

A couple of years ago, when the first boomers turned 55, they told pollsters they wouldn't be old until they were 79.

They want Botox and Viagra, relevance and reality and enough disposable income to buy it all.

Who can argue - or wants to argue - with a mind-set focused on vitality and vigor, on continuing to be a meaningful member of society?

But, please, don't throw old folks out with the bath water.

Can't we export something besides fast food and a national worship for bellybutton rings?

Can't Madison Avenue try to sell me something besides pills for my arthritis and heartburn?

Dychtwald says demography is destiny. I can't wait.