President McAleese sounded a warning about how elderly Irish men are invisible

moonpurple · 30-05-2010 3:19pm #1

if our president is correct,

when do men start becoming invisible in ireland?

is it after they have assisted the arrival of children and find themselves moving to the margins
at pubs, golf clubs, garden sheds,

or is it at retirement when the main meetups cater to mothers

take a look at the crowd in a smart lunchtime eatery..often 80 per cent plus ladies

statistically men die five years earlier than women, why is that?

:pac:

President Mary McAleese and her husband have noted that men, particularly old men, are as good as invisible at many of the events they attend in rural areas. So we are left with the rather strange situation whereby old men are invisible when they are alive, and old women are invisible when they are dead.
from the Irish Times, 19 Oct'09, by Ann Marie Hourihane.
"Women rarely seen dead in obituaries
ANN MARIE HOURIHANE

CDfm · 30-05-2010 5:09pm

OOOPs -the President discovers that the population of the country consists of more than 1 gender.

She has been signing legislation into law for 10 years now.

As President does she have any powers or obligations to question legislation on how it will be enacted and enforced?

Mrmoe · 30-05-2010 11:50pm

I think it is true to a certain extent that there is nothing available for older men in this country. I don't whether it is mainly because because their social outlets wouldn't be the same as women or that there is nothing there for them. Probably a common place for older men would be the stereotypical "old man pub". There are n't too many other choices out there.

taytothief · 06-06-2010 6:31am

The irony

JuliusCaesar · 06-06-2010 3:19pm

Don't think that social isolation can be *legislated* for!

Lots of studies on social isolation and gender:

Previous research has found that men generally get their emotional needs met by their spouses/partners while women often get their emotional needs met by their female friends. Consistent with the literature, and given that most of our respondents were single, this study supports the contention that men are generally more socially isolated than women because they do not create adequate emotional intimacy when they are not in partnership with a significant other.

CDfm · 06-06-2010 3:33pm

But also because mens lives are socially involved in work and womens have tended not to be so its like comparing apples and oranges to suggest that this is the way its always been.

The studies are based on historical data and common sense should tell us that as society has changed and women are more career orientated that unless we address this imbalance now, in the future that the likelyhood is that both elderly men and women will be socially isolated.

President McAleese sounded a warning about how elderly Irish men are invisible

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