Following the current trends of women out living men for the most part, there seems to be a feminization association with aging. As mention in the article from Pike (2015), women’s physical activity levels have been recognized to decline later in life when compared to men. This may be because it is more normalized for the women run around with children or grandchildren, while also maintaining the home and caring for the man. I feel as though the idea of feminization of aging refers to the expectation that women are going to out live men and therefore older age is more associated with women and less so with men. This idea may also highlight the need to reevaluate and adjust the current mechanisms and institutions that are in place for the aging population because as typically seen, research tends to be focused on men. Focusing on aging women can help prolong their lives while making sure they are not in pain or necessarily suffering from a common condition among women.

“old” age is typically viewed as something to fear and worry about because there are such negative connotations attached to the word. In media and TV and based off of things I have been told, old age is represented in one of two ways in my experience. The first way can be seen in the photo above. A happy couple that look healthy and hopeful and look as though they love their life and how it turned out. This definition of old age seems to be the one that most people hope for, being able to provide safety and wisdom to new generations. The other way I have experienced the concept of old age is the opposite, older people are said to become bitter and vain and in constant, uncomfortable pain. The people in this depiction of old age are those who regret aspects of their lives and ruminate on what could have been. Overall, I think the most popular representation of old age is somewhere in the middle of these two out looks. I believe it depends on the mindset of the audience for there to be a true statement of what old age means.

Privilege contributes to aging and sport because those who identify with any of the factors listed above are at an automatic disadvantage for participating. This could result in those groups of people to be more stressed due to inactivity and decline in health. It could also cause them to have a poorer mental health as they see role models or mentors participating in sports they used to play or enjoy watching and feel bad about themselves for not being able to participate themselves. Those who are not a part of the groups listed above are those who are offered and encouraged to participate in sport, and they are also the ones that the research on benefits and costs are focused on.

Me again- showed women, different types of activities, motivation sources, love the emphasis on how your period changes mood, ability, and motivation, didn’t feel as focused on ability but more so on keeping women active throughout their lives

I think overall, the Nike ad is more inclusive because it highlights a decent age range, acknowledges things like gender, ability, sexuality, and religion. But in terms of better age representation alone, the Me Again ad had more focus on the ages of women and subtly showing how that effect sport and leisure activities.

1. the main problem from what I gathered from the article is that people are upset about the city taking out a perfectly good park to take over and turn into a paved space for pickle ball courts when there are pre paved areas that it could go instead. One note that I made was that I think it was important to mention the benefits from having more nature and greenery around, and the deficits that would come to be if they took all of that out. Another issue that I noted was the assumed disruption that would come with the addition but, I feel as though it would not be as much of a bother as the author assumed. If they are targeting the people who they think need more activity, then I do not believe those people will be playing pickle ball into the wee hours of the night, and would not be a complete disruption to the lives of those who live close to the park. As seen in the “council doubles down” article listed below, it seems the debate about what was happening with the additional courts was mainly to antagonize the opposing sides. There is note about the counsellors bringing in conversations about their family and spouses, so I think it seems like something people are just looking to argue about. The global news article below also points out the heated debates that resulted in residents kicked out of the meeting. However it also mentions that residents were bringing up valid points about how there were no complaints regarding the pickle ball tournaments from previous years. Although, it was understood that the game is rising in popularity, residents still fear there will be too much noise and light pollution with this addition.
2. I do not believe this is an issue of ageism, because in both photos throughout the articles posted below there are people of all ages protesting this addition. I think it is more so people being scared of losing peace in their own home and the quiet Peterborough they are used to will be lost. I think that there is not a discriminatory factor against age in this debate, but I do think they are going to make many people mad about this change because of the disruption to the environment they will be causing. I think it is important for there to be greenery around these parks for the cooling effects that were mentioned in the “Is a park still a park if it’s paved” article. According to Pike (2015) the aging populations are still declining in overall health however physical activity and social inclusion can help decrease the progression of the deterioration. I think it would be important to keep the greenery and keep the park how it is, where they can still play pickle ball, so that if the older people are playing in the summer, they still have areas to rest easily. Although pickle ball is categorized as a sport for older people, I feel like anyone who uses this park would be equally upset and the change and that the government of Peterborough may benefit more if they listened better to the complaints of the residents that are going to be effected by the new development.

What’s all the racket? Residents oppose pickleball courts at park in Peterborough, Ont.

https://peterboroughcurrents.ca/news/bonnerworth-redevelopment/