Why are all the derogatory comments about old grannies never Grandads?

Shelflife

It doesn't offend me , however it is indicative of a disrespect for women that has been in society for far too long! We have all become so used to it that many people - men and women don't recognize it. Time it was recognized and stopped.

Agreed.
We can call ourselves grans/ grannies if we like and of course our DGC will naturally call us that, or Nana.It’s a different thing entirely when other people use it as an insult.I had to call a poster out on this very thing recently who stated that grannies on here were averse to clicking on links provided.
It’s bad enough when younger people use it in a derogatory way without older women doing it as well.
It’s never Grandad is it? Men are awarded more dignity and respect even in old age.

It’s one thing to call someone Granny as a family name, but quite another to use Granny as a reference to older women in general. As M0nica says, it is dismissive.

Women are often referred to as ‘girls’ well into middle age, particularly if their work is low status, which is also disrespectful, and they go from that to being grannies. At what point are women adults on an equal footing with men?

Never!

What I don't understand is when young people get embarrassed or, stranger still make jokes about Grandma hearing or seeing anything to do with sex. Or they giggle that old ladies know, say or do anything "naughty". How do they think we became Grandmas? Have they no idea about what went on in the 60s?

Every generation likes to distance itself from the one before (‘Don’t trust anyone over 30’), and moan about the one after. It’s the law. Plus, when people discover sex (or first love, at least) they really can’t imagine that anyone has ever felt like that before. It’s too intense to be anything other than a one-off thing, never before experienced by anyone ever before.

It’s like when you have your first baby - oh yes, all those other people have babies too, but they aren’t like yours, are they?

Yes, it is the references to sex (and some other things) that make me smile, when you think what most of us have experienced!
But really, any stereotype makes me wince. Sure, occasionally as an ironic joke with someone you know, but otherwise, make no assumptions!

We have a Grumpy Old Men social group near here. They just laugh it off and go with it so why shouldn’t we?

Cambsnan

When did the word granny become shorthand for all the bad things about aging? A grandad is never used in this way! I became a grandma in my 40s and don’t feel old even 25 years on.

We were GP before age 40. We'd babies and GC the same year - our own children are in 2 groups about 20 years apart. They call me by the name our first GC formulated. Doesn't seem shorthand for aging - I'm not offended.

Just listen Bluebelle, you hear it all the time, in conversation and in the media

Not the sort of media I read or listen to or the sort of conversations I hear 🤷

Baggs

*Just listen Bluebelle, you hear it all the time, in conversation and in the media*

Not the sort of media I read or listen to or the sort of conversations I hear 🤷

I never hear negative granny references, but I tend to a positive view.

nanna8

We have a Grumpy Old Men social group near here. They just laugh it off and go with it so why shouldn’t we?

Being called a grumpy old woman is different from being called a granny though. Old women, grumpy or not are individuals defined by their age and sex (both immutable), and if they are being grumpy, fair enough - we are all grumpy from time to time. We are not all grannies, and if we are, that is not the only thing that defines us.

What is the collective name for a group of 35 year old men?

Teenagers, grannies, grandads, yuppies, bogans, groupies, yummy mummy, woke, leftie, there’s a lot. Some others which are not worth repeating because they are unpleasant. We do tend to categorise. Granny is not that bad compared with some of the foul things people come up with. I actually have to admit
I quite like it thought I am nanna. My mum was really ,really proud to be called grannie, used it as much as she could.

I am a proud Gran to 3. My friend is a Nan, what does it matter.
If Gran or Granny is used as a pejorative, it does not affect me.

I would like to be called Granny if I have grandchildren, which I really hope to when my children are older.

That's not the point.

Calling a woman Karen if her name is Karen is very different from calling someone called Ermintrude 'a Karen' because you don't like something she's said and your vocabulary doesn't stretch to using a non-cliched insult. This is very similar, IMO.

Galaxy

Older women are often targeted for various insults. It's often because they are good at establishing boundaries and saying no.

This is so true

There are some here, like me, who can deal with stupid dismissive remarks about age or sex like swatting flies.

But there are many who can't and #Me Too movement and other ground swell campaigns happen because people like me and others, are prepared to step forward on every woman or old persons behalf and stop the casual thoughless pejorative use of words like 'grans'

I don’t take offence at all, I used to think 30 was ancient at 18.

Oh, I can deal with it .

That doesn't mean that I can't recognise it as dismissive and ageist though - the two things are far from mutually exclusive.

Older women are often targeted for various insults. It's often because they are good at establishing boundaries and saying no

If only, too often they are chosen because they are an easy target and do not answer back, especially if they are no longer mentally at their best and have physical problems.

There seems to be an awful lot of 'I'm alright Jack' about many of the responses.

Or is it we notice insults that are directed at us more easily than those that are directed at grumpy old men.

I just don’t notice it - that’s not ‘I’m all right Jack’.

maybe hail stone is the equivalent gran version of snowflake?

No, it isn't GSM.

You didn't have to call me out Oreo; you are not GNHQ. You chose to, and I have to say I found your objection to the plural for grans on a forum entitled "Gransnet" quite ridiculous.

Many members of Gransnet have said they don't like to "click on links".
There was, of course, reasoned concern for me quoting this cohort and "clicking on links". You ignored this concern in what seemed a deliberately manipulative way (just as this thread is). You chose to ignore the point I made in order to harangue me instead.

I would guess one reason a group of older women are more often called grannies is that they self-identify with their grannydom more than men do. With the days of women being only identified by their relationships with their children and husbands dying out, I imagine this way of identifying this particular group will die out as well, all in good time.

Playing the 'prefect' on GN is not a good look. It is not a position GN or its "grannies" has elected anyone to.

The MeToo movement was and is not about petty name-calling, M0n.

Standing up to real abuse is a quite different matter from dismissing dismissive comments as simply not worth one's attention – even if one does notice them "all the time" all over the place, which I never have.

I am afraid that aggressive men are currently using those insults to try to dismiss the views of women on safeguarding, prostitution, etc ( basically any issue that benefits men). In my experience men who use those insults tend to be worrying to say the least.