Ageism

Formal Definition
"any attitude, action, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of age or any assignment of roles in society purely on the basis of age"
- Traxler, 1980

Informal Definition
Stereotypic and often negative perception of older adults

Where Do We Find It?

Films & Television

Are they ageist?

How?

The Golden Girls

Grumpy Old Men

Cartoons

Soap Operas

Greeting Cards

Your eyesight's gone!

but you look so natural and lifelike!

Humor

Two very elderly ladies were enjoying the sunshine on a park bench in Miami. They had been meeting that park every sunny day, for over 12 years, chatting and enjoying each others' friendship. One day, the younger of the two ladies, turns to the other and says, "Please don't be angry with me dear, but I am embarrassed. After all these years, what is your name? I am trying to remember, but I just can't." The older friend stares at her, looking very distressed, says nothing for 2 full minutes, and finally with tearful eyes, says, "How soon do you have to know?"

Language
Hag Coot Witch Codger Biddy Dirty Old Man

Advertisements
We have the power today to slow and even reverse the disease we call "aging."
Aging is now a treatable medical condition. Aging is not inevitable.

Myths of Aging

The majority of older adults will become senile (defective memory, disoriented, demented) during old age

Most older adults have no desire or capacity for sexual relations. In other words, most older adults are asexual

Chronological age is the most important determinant of age

Most older adults have difficulty adapting to change; they are set in their ways.

Physical handicaps are the primary factors limiting the activities of older adults

Older adults are incapable of learning new information; you can't teach an old dog new tricks

Intelligence declines with old age

The vast majority of older adults will at some point end up in a nursing home

Most older adults are rejected by their children

In general, most older adults tend to be pretty much alike

The majority of older adults say that they are lonely

Old age can be best characterized as a second childhood

Most older adults tend to be preoccupied with death

Older people tend to become more religious as they age; as they deal with their own mortality

Retirement is detrimental to an individual's health; six months ago he retired and now he's dead, retirement killed him

Pain is a natural part of the aging process

The majority of older adults say that they feel irritated or angry most of the time.

Rarely does someone over the age of 65 produce a great work of art, science, or scholarship.

"It is fitting for the last year of the millenium to be the International Year of Older Persons, with the theme 'towards a society for all ages' - a society that does not caricature older persons as pensioners, but sees them as both agents and beneficiaries of development" - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, 1 October 1998

"No one can avoid aging, but aging productively is something else." -- Katharine Graham