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Ageism, By Robert Butler

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According to Dittman (2003), “A survey of 84 people ages 60 and older, nearly 80 percent of respondents reported experiencing ageism--such as other people assuming they had memory or physical impairments due to their age.” What exactly is ageism? Ageism, termed by Robert Butler in 1969, is a form of discrimination or prejudice based on age. This can be emotionally or physically abusive for the individual. Elder adults are the majority that receive this kind of abuse. The elder population is continuously growing as death rates fall. This means that ageism will be a growing problem in years to come. One example of ageism that you can expect to see is stereotyping. There are many different stereotypes, which is just one of the forms of discrimination used against elders that younger people associate with seniors. For example, younger people joke about how slow older people are in their various activities. Most people consider elders a burden, which is part of what causes this negative association with them. There are so many ways people can discriminate against elders, but where does this take place? Ageism in the elder population can take place in employment, healthcare, and social media. In an American society, almost everything you do is based on employment. You go through twelve years of school only to graduate and go back to school to prepare for your career. We spend our whole lives preparing for our field of work or working. Many people work until the age of

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