I don’t watch The Bachelor because I don’t want to see women throw themselves at men. Ever. In any context.
But I can’t help but cheer Gerry Turner, the 72-year-old star of the new TV series The Golden Bachelor. He’s obviously handsome by any standard. And he wears a hearing aid.
Can we please normalize being old and sexy at the same time? Yes, it’s easier for older men to be seen as sexy than it is for older women to be seen that way. But still. People can be sexy and sexual at any age.
And can we also destigmatize hearing aids? You can lose your hearing anytime, and the consequences of untreated hearing loss can be huge. Yet because hearing aids are seen as “old people” technology, some folks who really need hearing aids aren’t willing to wear them.
We can change all this, though. This show is a step in a more enlightened direction. At least, I hope it is. Given the ageist coverage and denture jokes, I’m not 100% confident about that.
Let’s hope that Gerry can land a one-two punch against the ideas that sexy has an age and that hearing aids are uncool.