Introduction
This article is on
ageism and its causes and effects on our lives as we age. “The term “Ageism”,
was coined in 1969 by Robert Butler, the first director of the National
Institute on Aging” (E. Palmore, Ageism: Negative and Positive 1990). Robert
Butler defined ageism as bigotry no different than sexism or racism, where
negative stereotyping causes pain and discrimination against a group of people
just because of who they are. Ageism, unlike other bigotries, we will all
experience at some point in our lives. Because we all grow older, no one is
exempt.
Our Society and
Ageism
There are four basic
factors in Western civilization that help promote the negative bias and
stereotyping of those who have reached what is viewed as old. This can vary
from ethnic group to ethnic group, and individual to individual.
The First Factor of
Ageism:
The first factor is
the fear of death. Western civilization separates death from the nature life
cycle, viewing as somehow unnatural, Eastern civilization and their
philosophies, on the other hand, have always viewed death as just a part of a
continuous cycle of life. In this process, which is called reincarnation, death
is viewed as part of the process of rebirth and is not feared. So in Eastern
society aging is not feared and the elderly are not ignored or put in a
negative light, they are seen as wise elders and are deeply respected. The
opposite is true in Western civilization and in its philosophy. Kastenbaum
(1979) stated: “As death is feared, old age is feared; death and old age are
viewed as synonymous in American society.” Butler also (1969) states: “Ageism
reflects a deep-seated uneasiness on the part of the young and middle-aged. A
personal revulsion to and distaste for growing old, disease, disability; and a
fear of powerlessness, uselessness, and death” (The Theoretical Basis of
Ageism, quote from Kastenbaum and Butler, http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageismtheory.html.)
The elder in Western civilization is seen as a burden and reminder of our
body’s mortality.
The Second Factor of
Ageism:
The second factor is
the media including: movies, television, commercials, music videos, magazines,
books, and even the evening news. Pappas (2011) states: “If you’re over 50 and
pick up a copy of Vogue magazine, don’t expect to see someone like you peering
back from the cover. Despite having a readership that’s one-fifth women over
50, the magazine has only featured one woman over 40 on the cover in the past
year — Halle Berry, then 43, who appeared on the September 2010 issue…A new
study finds that this absence of older women isn’t limited to Vogue, or even to
magazine covers: An analysis of editorial and advertising images reveals that
despite proportions of older readers ranging as high as 23 percent, fashion
magazines portray women over 40 sparingly, if at all. Even in magazines geared
toward aging baby boomers, the images collectively present a thin, youthful,
wrinkle-free ideal that’s impossible to maintain later in life” (Magazines’
Youthful Ideal Threatens Real Women’s Sexuality, http://www.livescience.com/14562-fashion-magazines-vogue-older-women-sexuality.html.)
Youth and beauty are portrayed as being all important, a person’s worth is
based on their youthful appearance and physical beauty, not the character of their
personality, mind, and soul. The older a character on a movie or television
show is, the more likely they will be portrayed in a negative way, especially
women. Usually the older female will be portrayed as the villain who is
jealously going after the much younger heroine of the story, because she wants
her life and to regain her youth by destroy another. Magazines play with our
fear of growing older. By telling us that as we age, we will lose our beauty
and sexuality. And in turn lose our value in society to be loved and respected.
So they promote and advertise all kinds of costly beauty products, procedures,
and plastic surgeries. Many procedures with dangerous side effects, like Botox
and skin peels. Or surgeries that can permanently scar a person or kill them;
turning a once healthy forty or fifty something into a corpse. Even greeting
cards have to get into the act of degrading the aging process. Some birthday
cards turn a happy birthday into a horrible sarcastic joke. This emphasis on
youth not only affects how older individuals are perceived but also how older
individuals perceive themselves.
The Third Factor of
Ageism:
The third factor is
America’s emphasis on productivity. Butler (1969) stated: “It should be noted
that productivity is narrowly defined in terms of economic potential. Both ends
of the life cycle are viewed as unproductive, children and the aged. The
middle-aged are perceived as carrying the burdens imposed by both groups.
Children, however, are viewed as having future economic potential. In a way,
they are seen as an economic investment. Economically, older adults are
perceived as a financial liability. This is not to say that older adults are
unproductive. However, upon retirement, the older adult is no longer viewed as
economically productive in American society and thus devalued” (The Theoretical
Basis of Ageism, http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageismtheory.html.)
The sad fact is even if the older adult is working and healthy they are still
viewed as being less productive, especially here in America. A stereotype that
is blind to the truth and that devalues people that are still very productive,
both economically and socially.
The Fourth Factor of
Ageism:
The fourth factor is
how medicine and science have handled research in the aging process. Most
studies in gerontology in the past have been poorly done. Done in long-term
care institutions where the studies were cheap, easy and lazily done. But in
reality only a very small percentage of the elderly are in these types of
institutions (about five percent.) These are the elderly that are sicklier than
the rest of the population, due to many factors not just the aging process. So
the research was not wide enough to be valid or fair. The only thing all these
studies really did was add to the long list of fears, stereotypes, and negative
bias against growing older.
Myths and Facts of
Aging
The number one myth
against aging and the elderly is that most are suffering from sickness or
disability. Nearly half of Americans believe that illness and disability are
the number one problem of those over sixty-five. That getting older makes you
frailer and more open to diseases and injuries than your younger counterparts.
As we get older our quality of life, it is believed, goes from health to
suffering, fearing that we all will end up in a long-care institution (a
nursing home) at some point in our late adulthood, to suffer through a long
death (Five Myths of Aging, http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/aging/the-five-myths-of-aging.)
The fact is that about seventy-eight percent of people over sixty-five are
healthy enough to engage in normal everyday life activities and that only about
five percent of the elderly are in long-care institutions. These are the worst
of the worst that may be suffering from an age related diseases like
Alzheimer’s, but also may be suffering from genetic diseases or health problems
due to past lifestyle choices.
Mental decline and
mental illness are two other health myths held against the elderly. Mental
decline is viewed as something that just happens as we age, a normal part of
aging that we must endure and suffer through. (Five Myths of Aging, http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/aging/the-five-myths-of-aging.)
But most of us will retain our normal mental abilities, though they may slow a
bit, including the ability to learn and experience new things until our lives
end. Unless we develop a disease that effects our brain function. Mental
illness is also falsely viewed as a common problem with growing older. But only
about two percent of people over sixty-five are institutionalized for
psychiatric illness. In fact mental illness is much more common in the young.
Loss of sexuality is
another myth of aging, that as we age we loss the need for sexual intimacy. And
if we do not it is somehow morally perverse, that we are dirty old men and
women who have somehow missed the message of Western civilization that
sexuality ends when procreation does. (5 Myths About Sex and Aging, http://www.aarp.org/relationships/love-sex/info-05-2011/sex-myths.html.)
Sadly even well-educated medical professionals seem to buy into this
conservative view of sexuality. But in reality we were created as sexual beings
and will die the same. Most healthy couples still have satisfying sexual
relations into their eighties and even nineties. Sexual intimacy plays an
important role in the lives of both men and women, offering love and closeness
and most feel that sex after sixty is as satisfying as or more satisfying than
when they were younger.
Another myth of
aging is that those that are elderly live in a state of isolation and
uselessness. But the majority of the elderly are not socially isolated or useless.
Most live with spouses or family, and if they do live alone they keep close
contact with family and friends. Most feel they have purpose in their lives,
having jobs or careers, volunteering in their communities, having a religious
faith (believing in some higher being and purpose) and feeling loved and needed
by their partners, spouses, family circle, friends and community. Though there
is a decline over time of social activities as we age, it is not as dramatic of
a change as we may make it out to be. Some of us will have little to no change
in our social ties to the world or the social activities these ties provide.
Some of the social decline we experience is by choice or being pushed out of
things because of how old we are. Being told you are too frail or too old to do
this or that can help put you into a forced isolation that has nothing to do
with your biological age, just social pressure to conform to an ageist
stereotype.
The Effects of
Ageism
Dittman (2003)
states: “…in 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. The 2001 survey by Duke
University’s Erdman Palmore, PhD, also revealed that the most frequent type of
ageism–reported by 58 percent of respondents–was being told a joke that pokes
fun at older people. Thirty-one percent reported being ignored or not taken
seriously because of their age. The study appeared in The Gerontologist (Vol.
41, No. 5)” (Fighting Ageism, http://www.apa.org/monitor/may03/fighting.aspx.)
Like all bigotries, ageism comes with many emotional and even physical affects.
A person who is shunned and discriminated against will feel stressed. Feeling
isolated and alone, they may feel like they have no place in the world, no
purpose. They may adopt the very views that are used against them. “I’m too old
to be doing this” or “I should be acting may age.” They will slowly pull away
from things they once enjoyed and even people they love being around, trying to
fit into the stereotype that is put on them. Social interactions and activities
may be completely avoided. They may suffer low self-esteem, shame, self-hatred,
drug and alcohol abuse, and in extreme cases severe depression and suicide.
Dittman (2003) states: “Not only are negative stereotypes hurtful to older
people, but they may even shorten their lives, finds psychologist Becca Levy,
PhD, assistant professor of public health at Yale University. In Levy’s
longitudinal study of 660 people 50 years and older, those with more positive
self-perceptions of aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with negative
self-perceptions of aging. The study appeared in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology (Vol. 83, No. 2)” (Fighting Ageism, http://www.apa.org/monitor/may03/fighting.aspx.)
Counteracting Ageism
Changing society’s
views on aging is one of the best ways of counteracting ageism. Rodeheaver (The
Gerontologist 1990) “suggests that in order to counteract ageism, changes must
be made in the system which perpetrates it beliefs. This includes the media,
culture, and institutions such as government, human services and corporate
America” (Curriculum Module on Ageism, University of California at Berkeley, http://cssr.berkeley.edu/research_units/casas/links_details_curricula_ageism.html.)
We also should be aware of our own deep down prejudices against the aging
process and the elderly, and find their root cause. Interacting with the
elderly is one way to overcome our own personal feelings and biases against
growing old. The elderly can also take action by staying active in their
community and government (not becoming invisible.) We should remember that we
are all growing older, and will have to deal with the effects of ageism and its
negative stereotypes, at some point of our lives. How will we handle it? This
is something to think about.
Conclusion
Western civilization
has to change its views on aging and the elderly. We must remember the Fifth
Commandment “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus). When we honor our
parents we honor God, and I believe it means our elderly neighbors also.
Somehow we have lost the respect that once was held for the elders of the
tribe. Eastern civilization still views the elder as a respected member of the
community, the wise one to go to for help and knowledge. This is the model we
should emulate here in America instead of treating the wise elder like
something that can be thrown away, ignored and disrespected.
Aging is a natural
process we all are experiencing right now, treating it as something horrible
and unnatural that must be suffered through, is treating life in a very narrow
way. Yes, there are changes in our bodies over time, but attitude has a lot to
do with our health, mental faculties, and happiness as we age. If you are young
in spirit, always looking to the future and learning new and exciting things.
Not one to back down from the process of life, a person that never believes
“you’re too old to do something” or that “you most act your age.” Your life
will be very different than the person who sees the aging process as a sickness
and growing old as a future of darkness and suffering. “We do not see the world
as it is, we see the world as we are” (The Jewish Talmud).
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