Assignment : Ageism In Society

Ageism is a form of discrimination and prejudice, particularly experienced by seniors. Most seniors are mentally and physically active regardless of age with a great deal to contribute. http://www.alfa.org/alfa/Ageism.asp

Ageism is a judgement against people because of their age, however it is still not seem by many as a form of discrimination. The article “Why ageism never gets old?” by Tad Friend, applies to age prejudice in the modern society. Arguing his thesis, the author refers primarily to examples from Silicon Valley and movies. Friend indicates that an opinion on older employees shifted from those perceived as qualified to those who are untrainable and uncreative.

We see this in Mulan and Up, these films that I pick off the top of my head. Seefeldt (1984) believes."Many people come to perceive older adults as less helpful all of the dissipating in the same kinds of activities at they do. While examining this issue. Found that people dreaded the thought of becoming old because older people were, out of their minds, seen as uglier, dirtier less helpful and less healthy than younger people. People see younger adults as more fun, nicer looking, more physically and preferred over adults." By this we can see that the older generation is treated with lower respect. The older generation used to be known for their wisdom and, knowledge but now that good stereotype has vanished and, returned as a virus that is continuously spreading disapproval and, pity for the elderly even Bishop and, Krause (1986)said, "codes were instructed in how to identify older characters and the code for mental and physical characteristics. An older character was identified by using one or more of the following subject criteria; an appearance of retirement, extensive grey hair , wrinkles of the skin, extensive loss of hair or balding, cracking voice, use of an aid such as a cane or wheelchair, the parent of a son or daughter who is middle aged or older, evidence of grandchildren or great-grandchildren." These remarks make everyone believe that the elderly are

Ageism can affect both the youth and the elderly, but in today’s times it is mainly focused on the elderly. The elderly are constantly harassed, judged, and stereotyped for their age. The elderly are viewed as disabled, has-beens, and basically serve no propose, instead of being viewed as wise, bold, experienced, and valuable. In the article “Putting The

After giving thought to the subject of ageism as it is directed against the elderly in American society, I find that although I generally have a great deal of respect for those older than me, I like most am guilty of some degree of stereotyping.

17). The generation of baby boomers is named so due to an extremely high birth rate following the return of WWII soldiers. These people, born from the mid-1940s to about 1964, are now either a part of the older generation, or only a few years from it. People tend to believe that the historical cohort’s large population is the only reason for an increased amount of older people in society. In reality, as the article points out, increases in longevity can also be attributed to advancements in medicine, along with knowledge about the spread of disease and general health (MacArthur Foundation, 2009). This myth contributes to the negative stereotyping of aging because those who believe this myth do not see the importance of an aged population. What some individuals do not realize is that generations living longer can provide endless wisdom, experience, and advice to the younger population. Instead of utilizing the increasing life expectancy, people tend to judge older individuals as having physical and mental decline, when in actuality, this is entirely untrue. This false belief is the second myth discussed in the

The aging population is the fastest growing population in our nation. By the year 2030, it is estimated that approximately 61 million people will be between the ages 65 -85 and 9 million individuals will be ages 85 and older (Ouchida &Lachs, 2015). Perceptions of the elderly have slightly changed for the better in recent years, but biases and discrimination are still very widespread in our society today. “Ageism” is a phrase coined by Robert Butler in 1969 and implies a preconception, prejudice, and discrimination against older adults and can come in many forms.

In the case of older adults, common ageist stereotypes might suggest that any individual older than age 65 is mentally and physically incapacitated, even though the overwhelming of the older adults are not (Plassman etal.,2007). Stereotypes are defined as oversimplified, exaggerated beliefs about a group or category of people. Stereotypes may be positive or negative, usually negative, which often distort facts. For instance, overgeneralizations surrounding older people and the aging process is old age begins at 60, old people are unproductive , and old women are a burden to everyone are amongst a couple stereotypes older people face. Members of society have been socialize to belief that age can be mark or measure. The dilemma with attempting to measure age is it is subjective to each society. In attempts to categorize members of society by age people often use chorological age, functional status, or life stage. Chronological age is used in our society as the basis for determining many social roles (voting, driving, marrying, holding public office, for eligibility in social programs (such as social security, AARP membership, or Older American Act), and for inclusion in research about aging (Morgan, Kunkel, 2011:7). Chronological age measures age by major life transitions in society. Thus, categorizing people as

Ageism has been defined as a type of discrimination that has a prejudice against an individual based on their age (Cherry, 2015). This was first used by Robert Butler, a gerontologist, who published back in 1969 the article that stated that ageism was a “serious national problem” (Levy; Macdonald, 2016). Mr. Butler was trying to help other understand and describe the stereotype and discrimination against the elder generation, and to show that ageism was as big of an issue compared to racism and sexism (Brownell, 2014). Since the establishment of Ageism, the growing work force of aged

The phrase "ageism" refers to two notions: a gregariously constructed way of cogitating older persons predicated on negative postures and stereotypes about ageing and a proclivity to structure society predicated on a posit that everyone is puerile, thereby failing to respond opportunely to the authentic desiderata of older persons. Treating people unfairly based on their age has been in attendance in the society because of the inclination of developments that is happening. Ageism is sometimes a cause for individuals acts of age discrimination and as well as discrimination that is more structured in nature, treating people in an unfair situation ascribable to age is known as age discrimination (Ontario Human Rights …). Treating people unfairly

It is important for society to be inclusive of everyone and not judge based on age. There are a lot of stereotypes about the elderly. One common stereotype is that elderly people are not as intelligent as the young (Anderson). This is not true (Anderson).

Ageism is any attitudes, actions, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of their age or any assignment of roles in society purely on the basis of age. It typically reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. The concept of aging varies across different cultures as different countries have varying demographic statistics such as Japan and Italy having significant part of their population above the age of 60 versus most countries in Africa who have significant parts of their population below the age of 30. Most research on ageism is done on children, adolescents, or young adults with few studies on actual older adults. Age is increasingly becoming a more positive concept, yet older people are still stereotyped. The three theories in sociology about aging are disengagement, activity, and continuity.

The term "ageism" was coined in 1969 by Robert Butler, the first director of the National Institute on Aging. He used the word to describe the process of systematic stereotyping of people because they are old. Ageism is a term that is similar to other ‘isms ' in society, such as racism and sexism. "Ageism allows other generations to see older people as different from themselves; thus they subtly cease to identify with their elders as human beings" (Butler, 1975). All people, including the young as well as the old, can be discriminated against based on age. Today ageism is more broadly defined as any prejudice or discrimination against or in favor of an age group (Palmore, 1990).

Ageism and stereotypes of older people can have an important impact on their physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing. Negative stereotypes of older people being dependent and decrepit can be internalized and become self-fulfilling. These ageist thoughts and stereotypes can lead to older people not seeking health care in general and to not get treatment appropriate for their illness or medical condition due to their age and not based on any other factor.

Ageism was described by Robert Neill Butler as the discrimination and stereotyping of people because of their age. Robert.N.Butler was one of the first psychiatrist to recognise how the world treats and thinks about older people Robert saw it as discrimination against the older people and the aging process. In the Irish society today there are ageism and ageist attitudes towards people of an older age.