"Ageism in Reverse"?
In spite of the fact that the headline irks me(there is no such thing as "reverse discrimination", in any event youth suffer far more ageism than seniors), this is a good article. What are your thoughts?
http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/officehou...936111,00.html
Ageism in reverse
It's not only older workers who are discriminated against. A new survey reveals that young employees suffer too, says Kate Hilpern
Monday April 14, 2003
The Guardian
The TUC is calling for a minimum youth wage to boost the income of thousands of young workers. Currently, the national minimum wage doesn't kick in until employees are 18. "A government report from two years ago said that the days of employers paying workers £1 or £2 an hour are gone," says TUC general secretary Brendan Barber. "But there are reports of 16- and 17-year-olds being exploited in this way, and without an enforceable minimum wage they have nowhere to turn."
The move is one of a series of attempts to tackle "youth ageism" - with under-25s being its latest victims, according to organisations such as the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Not only does this age group claim their youth can detrimentally affect their salaries, but it can also hold them back in the selection process and act as a block to them climbing the career ladder.
"Our latest survey found that more than half of under-25s say they have been discriminated against on the basis of their age," says Dianah Worman, policy adviser at the CIPD. Among the most common experiences cited were being discouraged from applying for a job because the advert indirectly indicated age restriction and suffering from age discrimination during a job interview.
Other recent reports have found that many job seekers have been told explicitly by a recruitment agency or employer that they are "too young" for a job, despite having the right qualifications.
Meanwhile, other respondents claim they have had to leave their current employer in order for their ideas to be taken seriously or to get promoted. "The chief reason for age discrimination against the young is the stereotype that they are inexperienced and lack responsibility and dependability," says Worman. "Coupled with the fact that we live in a climate where there is growing pressure on managers to find someone who can do exactly what they want right now - as opposed to recruiting the talent for tomorrow - youth ageism is becoming rife."
In the past there has been considerable focus on training and nurturing new employees, with the hope that they will stay loyal and committed to the employer for years to come. "In fact, I would say that organisations are still able to talk a good story about wanting to develop people," says Hazel Bunston, service development director for Penna Careers Consulting. "But the cost of recruiting, and the fact that most companies have been stripped pretty lean, means they tend to buy in proven - rather than potential - talent."
A further problem is what Bunston refers to as the "apprenticeship syndrome". "It's incredibly difficult for people who join an organisation as a trainee of any kind to ever be seen by colleagues as anything other than the person they were when they joined. So if you join as Sue, the 16-year-old trainee accountant, and five years later you are a fully fledged accountant, there's a good chance you'll still be seen as Sue, the trainee. For many people, this means they have to join another organisation to be recognised as a 21-year-old with significant experience and skills. The company that has invested five years of training in Sue, only to find she's left because her career can't flourish within their organisation, is usually unwilling to then invest in someone else. It becomes a vicious circle."
Occupational psychologist Andrew Martin believes many companies simply don't want to recruit Generation Xers - those born in the 70s and 80s - because they are perceived as fickle. "This group saw the jobs of their parents' generation axed time and time again and many are determined to take charge of their own career development. They will work hard, but move on once they have learned what they can from an organisation. Many employers, understandably, don't want to invest in such people. Rather, they want workers who they feel will be loyal, committed and retainable."
According to the EFA, as the issue of ageism against older workers gains greater publicity, employers are less likely to stereotype them with myths such as being slow to learn. "But we have noticed that in turn they are becoming more willing to attach stereotypes to younger people - such as that they are disloyal and more interested in their social lives than work," says Samantha Mercer, the EFA's campaign director. "The result is that younger workers are currently fair game for ageism."
It doesn't help, she says, that more and more employers are demanding a certain number of years' experience for roles that actually don't need experience. "Anyone under 24 is unlikely to have five years' experience - which is what is often asked for - and are therefore being directly discriminated against."
The good news is that some employers - particularly those in the public sector - are waking up to the fact that they are employing an ageing workforce. Oxfordshire county council is among them. "We suddenly realised that only 13% of our workforce was under 30 and a mere 1% was under 21," says a spokeswoman. Among the changes the council made to widen the age profile was introducing work-experience placements, increasing the number of full-time posts and expanding training and career development.
Meanwhile, other companies are expanding IT and computing facilities, which tend to attract younger workers, as well as quirky perks such as "duvet days", pool tables and visiting hairdressers.
------------------
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
President & Executive Director
National Youth Rights Association
www.youthrights.org
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irCS2_27ytI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B7vneLvL8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj6q9PIRFuY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_XyFGFr29c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oreClI54lM&feature=related
The above links are to some good YouTube videos dealing with Ageism. I really liked them and Hope you guys take the time to watch them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B7vneLvL8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj6q9PIRFuY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_XyFGFr29c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oreClI54lM&feature=related
The above links are to some good YouTube videos dealing with Ageism. I really liked them and Hope you guys take the time to watch them!
Monday, March 29, 2010
A Different Outlook on Ageism
I found this article published on March 27, 2010 very interesting. Instead of dealing with ageism with the elder population this article is about a sophomore at the University of Connecticut who has filed an age discrimination claim with the university and U.S. Department of Education.
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2010/03/27/features/14408480.txt
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2010/03/27/features/14408480.txt
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Opinion from the other side.
BBC is not just ageist against women, says John Simpson
World affairs editor says discrimination comes from top of the Corporation
By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
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John Simpson said 'in a big outfit like the BBC, right at the top or near the top, [there was] quite a lot of ageism'
TOBY MADDEN
John Simpson said 'in a big outfit like the BBC, right at the top or near the top, [there was] quite a lot of ageism'
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He once claimed to have liberated Kabul. Now, John Simpson is facing a different kind of war much closer to home: ageism at the BBC. Many female correspondents have railed against age discrimination and now it is the turn of the men. "There are not many of us left," said Simpson, the Corporation's 65-year-old world affairs editor. "We have mostly died out or retired. I'm certainly the oldest person in the BBC newsroom."
He told The Independent that "there should be older people going [to report from] abroad, and there should not be the pressure to give up reporting, after a given age". He added: "I don't see people, certainly reporting, at my sort of age. I don't think there should be rules against it. If they are up to the job [they should do it], but it is a very hard job, in television particularly, lugging lots of recording equipment around, carrying stuff; it's physically hard with long hours." Simpson said he had never been placed under pressure to take retirement and ageism had not affected him directly, but added that he felt there were judgements based around age at the Corporation and "in a big outfit like the BBC, right at the top or fairly near the top, quite a lot of ageism".
He cites one example, an incident in 2009, when he took an idea to BBC1 for a series entitled Top Dogs – a show featuring himself, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, which the channel turned down. "I put forward a proposal with another two elderly characters, but I was told it 'didn't fit the audience profile of BBC1' [which meant] they didn't want old people on BBC1. The proposal was something that BBC2 took up."
Simpson is probably the most experienced BBC correspondent, having reported from more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, and interviewed many world leaders, but he is acutely aware that he is in the minority among older journalists.
A survey shows that BBC1 has a lower proportion of older talent than its commercial rival ITV. At ITV1, 27 per cent of presenters and actors are aged at least 50 compared with 20 per cent on BBC1. The gap is bigger for men than for women. Twenty-two per cent of BBC1's male actors and presenters are over 50 compared to 29 per cent at ITV1. The figures for women over 50 are 18 per cent at BBC1 and 24 per cent at ITV1, research by Anchor, a residential care provider, has found.
On news and current affairs programmes, the lead is maintained, with 31 per cent of ITV1's presenters being 50 or more compared to 28 per cent at BBC1. But BBC2 had the most age-friendly mix of presenters and actors with 37 per cent being from the 50-plus group, more than any other broadcaster.
There were distinct advantages to nurturing a greyer newsroom, Simpson suggested, with greater experience and a sense of confidence among reporters who were prepared to stand behind the kind of investigative rigour he discusses in his latest book, Unreliable Sources.
"Everything I say is directed towards my own case but one thing you lose [with experience] is your sense of nervousness about saying things that will not be popular.
"If I go somewhere and don't get a story, I just come back and say I don't have a story. You don't feel you have to please people. [It's] a case for older journalists."
World affairs editor says discrimination comes from top of the Corporation
By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
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John Simpson said 'in a big outfit like the BBC, right at the top or near the top, [there was] quite a lot of ageism'
TOBY MADDEN
John Simpson said 'in a big outfit like the BBC, right at the top or near the top, [there was] quite a lot of ageism'
* Photos enlarge
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He once claimed to have liberated Kabul. Now, John Simpson is facing a different kind of war much closer to home: ageism at the BBC. Many female correspondents have railed against age discrimination and now it is the turn of the men. "There are not many of us left," said Simpson, the Corporation's 65-year-old world affairs editor. "We have mostly died out or retired. I'm certainly the oldest person in the BBC newsroom."
He told The Independent that "there should be older people going [to report from] abroad, and there should not be the pressure to give up reporting, after a given age". He added: "I don't see people, certainly reporting, at my sort of age. I don't think there should be rules against it. If they are up to the job [they should do it], but it is a very hard job, in television particularly, lugging lots of recording equipment around, carrying stuff; it's physically hard with long hours." Simpson said he had never been placed under pressure to take retirement and ageism had not affected him directly, but added that he felt there were judgements based around age at the Corporation and "in a big outfit like the BBC, right at the top or fairly near the top, quite a lot of ageism".
He cites one example, an incident in 2009, when he took an idea to BBC1 for a series entitled Top Dogs – a show featuring himself, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, which the channel turned down. "I put forward a proposal with another two elderly characters, but I was told it 'didn't fit the audience profile of BBC1' [which meant] they didn't want old people on BBC1. The proposal was something that BBC2 took up."
Simpson is probably the most experienced BBC correspondent, having reported from more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, and interviewed many world leaders, but he is acutely aware that he is in the minority among older journalists.
A survey shows that BBC1 has a lower proportion of older talent than its commercial rival ITV. At ITV1, 27 per cent of presenters and actors are aged at least 50 compared with 20 per cent on BBC1. The gap is bigger for men than for women. Twenty-two per cent of BBC1's male actors and presenters are over 50 compared to 29 per cent at ITV1. The figures for women over 50 are 18 per cent at BBC1 and 24 per cent at ITV1, research by Anchor, a residential care provider, has found.
On news and current affairs programmes, the lead is maintained, with 31 per cent of ITV1's presenters being 50 or more compared to 28 per cent at BBC1. But BBC2 had the most age-friendly mix of presenters and actors with 37 per cent being from the 50-plus group, more than any other broadcaster.
There were distinct advantages to nurturing a greyer newsroom, Simpson suggested, with greater experience and a sense of confidence among reporters who were prepared to stand behind the kind of investigative rigour he discusses in his latest book, Unreliable Sources.
"Everything I say is directed towards my own case but one thing you lose [with experience] is your sense of nervousness about saying things that will not be popular.
"If I go somewhere and don't get a story, I just come back and say I don't have a story. You don't feel you have to please people. [It's] a case for older journalists."
BBC faces 'ageism' claim
11:00am Sunday 28th March 2010
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THE BBC is facing calls to increase the number of older people in its programmes as new research reveals 17% of people in the South-West feel BBC1 portrays a negative image of older people.
The news came as the ‘Older Faces Audit’ revealed that only 20% of the presenters and actors on the BBC’s flagship channel are over 50, compared to 27% on its main commercial rival ITV1.
During the week-long observation of national terrestrial television, ITV1 also featured more over 50s on its news and current affairs programmes than BBC1 (31% vs. 28%).
The audit was commissioned by Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for older people, to examine the age profile and depiction of older people on the five major terrestrial television channels.
BBC1 lost out in the battle of the soaps, with 26% of people in the South West saying ITV1 soap Coronation Soap treated older people positively, just ahead of the 25% of the region in favour of Eastenders’ depiction of older faces.
Anchor Chief Executive Jane Ashcroft is calling for a fairer representation of older people in the media. She said: “As a culture we dramatically undervalue the contribution older people make to society and this problem is perpetuated by the media’s fixation with youth.
“It is scandalous that the over 50s are not represented more fairly on television, particularly when they are the fastest growing demographic in this country.
“Rather than condemning older presenters and actors to the scrap heap, it is time for television executives to embrace the wealth of talent and experience they can offer.”
The ‘Older Faces Audit’ also examined the representation of older women on TV. Only one in five (20%) female presenters are over 50, compared to one in four (25%) of their male colleagues.
BBC stalwart David Attenborough was the media personality who most viewers in the South-West felt depicted a positive image of older people.
The Life on Earth presenter won 31% of the vote, ahead of challengers Sir Trevor McDonald (11%) and Bruce Forsyth (9%).
In response to the findings of the Audit, Anchor Chief Executive Jane Ashcroft will be writing to the BBC Trust and Chief Executive of ITV calling for greater representation of older people within the media.
The Older Faces Audit and further information about Anchor can be found at www.anchor.org.uk
11:00am Sunday 28th March 2010
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THE BBC is facing calls to increase the number of older people in its programmes as new research reveals 17% of people in the South-West feel BBC1 portrays a negative image of older people.
The news came as the ‘Older Faces Audit’ revealed that only 20% of the presenters and actors on the BBC’s flagship channel are over 50, compared to 27% on its main commercial rival ITV1.
During the week-long observation of national terrestrial television, ITV1 also featured more over 50s on its news and current affairs programmes than BBC1 (31% vs. 28%).
The audit was commissioned by Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for older people, to examine the age profile and depiction of older people on the five major terrestrial television channels.
BBC1 lost out in the battle of the soaps, with 26% of people in the South West saying ITV1 soap Coronation Soap treated older people positively, just ahead of the 25% of the region in favour of Eastenders’ depiction of older faces.
Anchor Chief Executive Jane Ashcroft is calling for a fairer representation of older people in the media. She said: “As a culture we dramatically undervalue the contribution older people make to society and this problem is perpetuated by the media’s fixation with youth.
“It is scandalous that the over 50s are not represented more fairly on television, particularly when they are the fastest growing demographic in this country.
“Rather than condemning older presenters and actors to the scrap heap, it is time for television executives to embrace the wealth of talent and experience they can offer.”
The ‘Older Faces Audit’ also examined the representation of older women on TV. Only one in five (20%) female presenters are over 50, compared to one in four (25%) of their male colleagues.
BBC stalwart David Attenborough was the media personality who most viewers in the South-West felt depicted a positive image of older people.
The Life on Earth presenter won 31% of the vote, ahead of challengers Sir Trevor McDonald (11%) and Bruce Forsyth (9%).
In response to the findings of the Audit, Anchor Chief Executive Jane Ashcroft will be writing to the BBC Trust and Chief Executive of ITV calling for greater representation of older people within the media.
The Older Faces Audit and further information about Anchor can be found at www.anchor.org.uk
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Step II - How to Identify Ageists
1. The Pretenders - These are misguided older folks who believe that age is "all in your head".
2. The Discriminators - Some of their best friends are old, so how could they be ageist? However, they are quick to point out the realistic limitations of older applicants to jobs in their sphere of influence.
3. The Exceptionalists - These elders consider themselves the fortunate exceptions to society's negative view of old people. While they think of themselves as vigorous, productive and useful to society, they imagine most of their peers to be in bad shape, useless and boring.
4. The Colonists - This type is frequently found among politicians, and is not at all rare in the ageism establishment. They may easily be identified because they always preface any word for the ageing with the possessive pronoun, such as "OUR senior citizens" or "MY elderly".
5. The Patronizers - This garden variety is common found in senior programs. To them, the old are just delightful when in "their place" and, like children, should be catered to and played with.
Step III - (The Hardest Step to Accept) We are ALL ageist.
Whether we're young, middle-aged or old, whether we've taken courses in gerontology or not, whether we think we're immune or too well-meaning to be afflicted, we are all ageists.
We're ageist because the society we live in is permeated with ageism. We can no more escape it than we can the chemicals in our food-- or sexism or racism for that matter. But at least in the case of the other two social diseases, there's been some progress and some serious efforts to combat them.
Ageism, by comparison, has been analyzed very little and manifests itself in variations with hardly a challenge.
Step IV - What You Can Do to Help Stamp Out Ageism
1. Quit complimenting people on how young they look.
2. Promote intergenerational job sharing, part-time hours, and no hiring or retirement according to a plan based on chronological age.
3. Try not to blame old age for fatigue or disorganization or forgetfulness. In our youth, we blame poor planning, lack of sleep, and a bad memory.
4. Criticize your local news media when a headline or cartoon is offensive.
5. When selecting a birthday card, keep your sense of humor. Just learn the difference between laughing WITH rather than laughing AT.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Ageism in Hollywood
Too Old for Hollywood? Try Film Directing
By Zorianna Kit
March 2, 2010
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Want to be an actor, but you are beyond your 20s. Perhaps a career as a screenwriter, but you heard about age discrimination. Try directing, filmmakers are having all the luck these days -- at any age.
"Shutter Island" from 67-year-old director Martin Scorsese, reigned atop U.S. box offices for the second straight week this past weekend. It dethroned former champ "Valentine's Day" from 75-year-old Garry Marshall, and 76-year-old Roman Polanski's "Ghost Whisperer" is performing well in art houses.
Some quick math on directors nominated for this week's Oscars shows an average age of 48, lowered significantly by the youngish Jason Reitman ("Up In the Air") at age 32.
It seems that if a director makes shrewd casting choices, works in a proven genre, stakes out a sure-fire release date or simply stays in the game long enough, they, like fine wine, get better with age.
"If you're making works that are relevant to today's audience, there is no ageism" in Hollywood, said Paul Dergarabedian, who tracks ticket sales for Hollywood.com.
Ageism has become a dirty word in entertainment in recent years because it seems today's big stars are teens and young adults like Miley Cyrus, 17, Zac Efron, 22 and the "Twilight" actors. Brad Pitt, 46 and Tom Cruise, 47 are just old men.
Late last month, TV writers, talent agents, studios and broadcasters announced a settlement in an age discrimination suit that called for businesses to pay $70 million to writers who believed they were denied jobs and promotions because they were telling stories too old to reach today's audiences.
Yet in a town seemingly always focused on new talent or the next young visionary, filmmakers old enough to be grandfathers are the ones tapping into what today's moviegoers want to see.
Thriller "Shutter Island," which teamed Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese, has earned $75 million in two weeks and "Valentine's Day" is at $100 million in three weeks.
By Zorianna Kit
March 2, 2010
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Want to be an actor, but you are beyond your 20s. Perhaps a career as a screenwriter, but you heard about age discrimination. Try directing, filmmakers are having all the luck these days -- at any age.
"Shutter Island" from 67-year-old director Martin Scorsese, reigned atop U.S. box offices for the second straight week this past weekend. It dethroned former champ "Valentine's Day" from 75-year-old Garry Marshall, and 76-year-old Roman Polanski's "Ghost Whisperer" is performing well in art houses.
Some quick math on directors nominated for this week's Oscars shows an average age of 48, lowered significantly by the youngish Jason Reitman ("Up In the Air") at age 32.
It seems that if a director makes shrewd casting choices, works in a proven genre, stakes out a sure-fire release date or simply stays in the game long enough, they, like fine wine, get better with age.
"If you're making works that are relevant to today's audience, there is no ageism" in Hollywood, said Paul Dergarabedian, who tracks ticket sales for Hollywood.com.
Ageism has become a dirty word in entertainment in recent years because it seems today's big stars are teens and young adults like Miley Cyrus, 17, Zac Efron, 22 and the "Twilight" actors. Brad Pitt, 46 and Tom Cruise, 47 are just old men.
Late last month, TV writers, talent agents, studios and broadcasters announced a settlement in an age discrimination suit that called for businesses to pay $70 million to writers who believed they were denied jobs and promotions because they were telling stories too old to reach today's audiences.
Yet in a town seemingly always focused on new talent or the next young visionary, filmmakers old enough to be grandfathers are the ones tapping into what today's moviegoers want to see.
Thriller "Shutter Island," which teamed Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese, has earned $75 million in two weeks and "Valentine's Day" is at $100 million in three weeks.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Honoring Aging Women: A clip of the Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHulSzs51X4
This video in a way is very uplifting for aging, and especially for aging in women. It shows a lot of ways Amercia can critique it's attitudes towards not only women aging but men as well. The interview clips are only a work-in-progress of the documentary, but it already shows you how honoring aging of people needs to be valued.
This video in a way is very uplifting for aging, and especially for aging in women. It shows a lot of ways Amercia can critique it's attitudes towards not only women aging but men as well. The interview clips are only a work-in-progress of the documentary, but it already shows you how honoring aging of people needs to be valued.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Here is something interesting that I found on ageism
And it may not just be the elderly who are harmed by ageism. A new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that young, healthy people who stereotype old people may themselves be at risk of heart disease many years down the road. Researchers Becca Levy and Martin D. Slade of the Yale School of Public Health, along with Alan B. Zonderman and Luigi Ferrucci from the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, examined data on hundreds of men and women who have been studied for almost four decades as part of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Back in 1968, when scientists began studying these volunteers, they ranged in age from 18 to 49 and were all in good health. At that time, scientists gathered all sorts of information about the volunteers, including their attitudes toward the elderly. Their images of being old covered the gamut from very positive to very negative.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Gray Panthers
Combating Ageism: A Matter of Human & Civil Rights
Click HERE to read "Ageism In America", a special report published in 2006 by the International Longevity Center USA (ILC). It defines ageism, describes its status in America in personal and institutional settings, and provides an agenda for action. Dr. Robert Butler, President and CEO of the ILC USA, coined the term "ageism".
Help Stamp Out Ageism!
(Re-printed from National Gray Panthers publication "Network" Volume 1, Issue 2, September/October 1995, page 14.)
Gray Panthers is an intergenerational organization dedicated to bring together young, old, women, men, persons of all ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds for the promotion of social justice.
Step I - Define It
Ageism is:
+ Discrimination based on chronological age.
+ The notion that people cease to be persons by virture of having lived a specific number of years.
+ The use of age to define capability and roles.
+ A process of systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people just because they are old.
+ To be told "you're too old" is as disheartening as to be told "you're too young"; both statements make you a stereotype when in fact you are an individual.
Step II - How to Identify Ageists
1. The Pretenders - These are misguided older folks who believe that age is "all in your head".
2. The Discriminators - Some of their best friends are old, so how could they be ageist? However, they are quick to point out the realistic limitations of older applicants to jobs in their sphere of influence.
3. The Exceptionalists - These elders consider themselves the fortunate exceptions to society's negative view of old people. While they think of themselves as vigorous, productive and useful to society, they imagine most of their peers to be in bad shape, useless and boring.
4. The Colonists - This type is frequently found among politicians, and is not at all rare in the ageism establishment. They may easily be identified because they always preface any word for the ageing with the possessive pronoun, such as "OUR senior citizens" or "MY elderly".
5. The Patronizers - This garden variety is common found in senior programs. To them, the old are just delightful when in "their place" and, like children, should be catered to and played with.
Step III - (The Hardest Step to Accept) We are ALL ageist.
Whether we're young, middle-aged or old, whether we've taken courses in gerontology or not, whether we think we're immune or too well-meaning to be afflicted, we are all ageists.
We're ageist because the society we live in is permeated with ageism. We can no more escape it than we can the chemicals in our food-- or sexism or racism for that matter. But at least in the case of the other two social diseases, there's been some progress and some serious efforts to combat them.
Ageism, by comparison, has been analyzed very little and manifests itself in variations with hardly a challenge.
Step IV - What You Can Do to Help Stamp Out Ageism
1. Quit complimenting people on how young they look.
2. Promote intergenerational job sharing, part-time hours, and no hiring or retirement according to a plan based on chronological age.
3. Try not to blame old age for fatigue or disorganization or forgetfulness. In our youth, we blame poor planning, lack of sleep, and a bad memory.
4. Criticize your local news media when a headline or cartoon is offensive.
5. When selecting a birthday card, keep your sense of humor. Just learn the difference between laughing WITH rather than laughing AT.
6. Fight ageism with two important weapons -- knowledge and a willingness to approach every person, regardless of age, as an individual with unique strengths, weaknesses, options, and opportunities.
Special thanks to Dr. Robert Butler, Tish Sommers, and Dr. Deborah V. Gross for their contributions to this article.
"Ageism." Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2010..
Click HERE to read "Ageism In America", a special report published in 2006 by the International Longevity Center USA (ILC). It defines ageism, describes its status in America in personal and institutional settings, and provides an agenda for action. Dr. Robert Butler, President and CEO of the ILC USA, coined the term "ageism".
Help Stamp Out Ageism!
(Re-printed from National Gray Panthers publication "Network" Volume 1, Issue 2, September/October 1995, page 14.)
Gray Panthers is an intergenerational organization dedicated to bring together young, old, women, men, persons of all ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds for the promotion of social justice.
Step I - Define It
Ageism is:
+ Discrimination based on chronological age.
+ The notion that people cease to be persons by virture of having lived a specific number of years.
+ The use of age to define capability and roles.
+ A process of systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people just because they are old.
+ To be told "you're too old" is as disheartening as to be told "you're too young"; both statements make you a stereotype when in fact you are an individual.
Step II - How to Identify Ageists
1. The Pretenders - These are misguided older folks who believe that age is "all in your head".
2. The Discriminators - Some of their best friends are old, so how could they be ageist? However, they are quick to point out the realistic limitations of older applicants to jobs in their sphere of influence.
3. The Exceptionalists - These elders consider themselves the fortunate exceptions to society's negative view of old people. While they think of themselves as vigorous, productive and useful to society, they imagine most of their peers to be in bad shape, useless and boring.
4. The Colonists - This type is frequently found among politicians, and is not at all rare in the ageism establishment. They may easily be identified because they always preface any word for the ageing with the possessive pronoun, such as "OUR senior citizens" or "MY elderly".
5. The Patronizers - This garden variety is common found in senior programs. To them, the old are just delightful when in "their place" and, like children, should be catered to and played with.
Step III - (The Hardest Step to Accept) We are ALL ageist.
Whether we're young, middle-aged or old, whether we've taken courses in gerontology or not, whether we think we're immune or too well-meaning to be afflicted, we are all ageists.
We're ageist because the society we live in is permeated with ageism. We can no more escape it than we can the chemicals in our food-- or sexism or racism for that matter. But at least in the case of the other two social diseases, there's been some progress and some serious efforts to combat them.
Ageism, by comparison, has been analyzed very little and manifests itself in variations with hardly a challenge.
Step IV - What You Can Do to Help Stamp Out Ageism
1. Quit complimenting people on how young they look.
2. Promote intergenerational job sharing, part-time hours, and no hiring or retirement according to a plan based on chronological age.
3. Try not to blame old age for fatigue or disorganization or forgetfulness. In our youth, we blame poor planning, lack of sleep, and a bad memory.
4. Criticize your local news media when a headline or cartoon is offensive.
5. When selecting a birthday card, keep your sense of humor. Just learn the difference between laughing WITH rather than laughing AT.
6. Fight ageism with two important weapons -- knowledge and a willingness to approach every person, regardless of age, as an individual with unique strengths, weaknesses, options, and opportunities.
Special thanks to Dr. Robert Butler, Tish Sommers, and Dr. Deborah V. Gross for their contributions to this article.
"Ageism." Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2010.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Ageism affects more then just Older individuals, It hurts the youth.
Ageism on Trial
Modern-day America is a bad place to be young. We have an increasing multitude of insulting age-laws confining youth to second-class citizenship: curfew laws, graduated driver's licenses, age-limits on buying nicotine gum?! We also have courts enforcing a double-standard of justice. In the Summer of 1998, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that if an employee is sexually harassed by a co-worker or manager, the employer is legally responsible even if the employer didn't know about it — that same week, the Supreme Court ruled that if a student is sexually harassed by a teacher, the school is not responsible unless the victim can prove school authorities knew about it and took no action.
But more than that, ageism is ingrained in our culture, influencing the minds of nearly everyone, and causing youth to face hostility and unfairness at every turn. This was something my public defender did not understand, at least not at the beginning of our trial. But the prosecutor sure got it, and she used it to full advantage.
At the age of 21, I was on trial for "obstruction of justice" after I interfered with police trying to club a defenseless (and as it turned out, innocent) man.
The jury was not a jury of my peers. Most of the jurors were well over 40. Those younger than 18, of course, were prohibited from even being considered to sit on the jury, tilting the age-balance against me.
During jury selection, some potential jurors admitted that, because of my youth, they could not presume me innocent. "I'm a high school principal," one man announced, "so I know what kids that age are like. If police say he did something wrong, he probably did." (At 21, I was older than high-school-age, but not enough older.) Those who admitted this prejudice were politely excused from the jury. Those who kept quiet about their prejudices were allowed to stay.
In this trial, the prosecutor did not have the facts on her side, nor did she have the law. But she had ageism, and she played it like a pro. For her closing remarks to the jury, she pointed at me and started with the words "This young man...", emphasizing my age, reminding the jury I was not one of them, I was not entitled to the same consideration and fairness they would demand for themselves. Later she told the jurors, "What we have here is a young man who has just been watching too much TV." My TV-viewing habits had never come up in the trial. They had nothing to do with the facts. She threw this in because it is an ageist stereotype, another reminder to the middle-aged jurors that I wasn't one of them. Were she trying someone black before a jury of twelve whites, she might have said, "What we have here is a black man who has just been eating too many watermelons."
Ironically, the prosecutor was counting on the jury's TV-viewing to deliver the verdict that would help her conviction-rating.
The jurors had heard two stories in this trial and had to choose one to believe. From the prosecutor, the story was of police engaged in a routine arrest when they found a youth standing too close for safety. They politely asked him to move back a few steps, and — for no reason — the kid stubbornly refused to get out of their way, leaving the officers no choice but to arrest him.
This story would make little sense in real life. But on TV and in movies and in novels, this scenario is acted out all the time: evil, unreasonable kids refuse to cooperate, just to make life difficult for blameless adults.
From the defense, jurors heard another story. White cops were threatening to club a defenseless black man. When they saw a bystander several feet away, they ordered him to move several feet further (to the other side of a view-obstructing bus shelter) so they wouldn't have to worry about heroes or even good witnesses. The conscientious youth swallowed his fear and politely said no, hence his arrest.
The jurors never saw anything like that on TV. Pop-culture portrays youths as predators, not good Samaritans.
I should point out the key element of this story was never contradicted by evidence or testimony. The police who testified never denied they had brandished a weapon and threatened a defenseless man. They simply glossed over it. My public defender did not ask them about it because he assumed they would lie, and he did not want their denial on record. The prosecutor, also, chose not to ask them about it.
While my story was not contradicted by evidence, it was contradicted by popular stereotypes. On sit-coms and dramas, young people are base and self-centered. In movies and in mystery novels, we routinely see young people raping women, beating the elderly, and terrorizing innocent adults everywhere.
The news media bolster that stereotype. They give wider coverage to crimes committed by youth, and they emphasize the ages of young criminals while they bury the ages of older criminals. The effect of this has been documented. A 1994 Gallup Poll asked respondents to estimate the percentage of violent crime that is committed by teenagers. The real number was 13%. Yet two-thirds of respondents mistakenly guessed the number would be more than twice that. And one-fourth of respondents believed teenagers alone commit more than half of all violent crimes! As Gallup Poll Monthly concluded, "because of recent news coverage of violent crimes committed by juveniles, the public has a greatly inflated view of the amount of violent crime committed by persons under the age of 18."
Politicians pander to the misguided and reinforce their stereotypes. President Clinton has been known to rant about "13-year-olds with automatic weapons" without ever mentioning that the average American is twice as likely to be murdered by someone born the same year as Bill Clinton as to be killed by a 13-year-old. Clinton has never said a word about 20-year-olds conscientiously defying punk-cops.
So the jurors took all they had heard from the media, from our political leaders, and from the entertainment industry, and weighed that against what little they had heard in court. They returned a verdict of "guilty."
Afterward, the prosecutor asked for off-the-record feedback from jurors. One juror complained the prosecutor had not made her case clear enough and had left the jury unsure of how my alleged actions violated the law. This juror did not seem to worry that she had just convicted an innocent person; she was simply upset the prosecutor had given her too little ammunition to use in the jury room against that one pesky black juror who spent several hours arguing for "not guilty" before caving in to the crowd.
This experience wounded whatever faith I had left in "the system". Frankly, I was surprised I had any faith left. Events like this are all too common. That high school principal who assumed I was guilty before the trial even started was typical of every principal I ever faced at every school I ever attended, and of principals and other adults throughout our nation. In her book Schoolgirls, Peggy Orinstien got one high school principal to admit on the record that, in dealing with a dispute between a student and a teacher, he would never take the student's side no matter what the situation.
Our whole society seethes with hatred for the young. I can count a hundred movies I've seen where an adult hits a child or teenager and the youth simply accepts it rather than hitting back or pressing charges. I haven't seen one movie showing the reverse. Rapists who prey on children are cheered-on by porno mags (Barely Legal), rock stars (Queen, George Michael, Sonic Youth, The Cherry-Popping Daddies), and novelists (Joseph Hanson, Vladimir Nabokov). In supposedly Christian churches, preachers impress upon their followers that children are to be viewed as property of their parents who deserve physical punishment if they disobey. (Ironically, the Bible quotes Jesus many times suggesting it is a sin to subjugate yourself to your parents (1), so clergymen are putting bigotry above their own Bible.)
My public defender juggled a few other cases at the same time as mine. One was a child-abuse case. They had caught the man when his daughter wound up in a hospital after being thrown down a flight of stairs. The same District Attorney's Office that prosecuted me dropped the charges against this man. They claimed the stitches in the little girl's face didn't constitute enough evidence for a trial. Like other politicians, D.A.'s are tough on crime when the perpetrators are young, soft on crime when the victims are.
"Ageism on Trial | children and teenagers facing prejudice | Pro-Youth Pages." The Pro-Youth Pages | challenging prejudice against youth. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2010..
Modern-day America is a bad place to be young. We have an increasing multitude of insulting age-laws confining youth to second-class citizenship: curfew laws, graduated driver's licenses, age-limits on buying nicotine gum?! We also have courts enforcing a double-standard of justice. In the Summer of 1998, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that if an employee is sexually harassed by a co-worker or manager, the employer is legally responsible even if the employer didn't know about it — that same week, the Supreme Court ruled that if a student is sexually harassed by a teacher, the school is not responsible unless the victim can prove school authorities knew about it and took no action.
But more than that, ageism is ingrained in our culture, influencing the minds of nearly everyone, and causing youth to face hostility and unfairness at every turn. This was something my public defender did not understand, at least not at the beginning of our trial. But the prosecutor sure got it, and she used it to full advantage.
At the age of 21, I was on trial for "obstruction of justice" after I interfered with police trying to club a defenseless (and as it turned out, innocent) man.
The jury was not a jury of my peers. Most of the jurors were well over 40. Those younger than 18, of course, were prohibited from even being considered to sit on the jury, tilting the age-balance against me.
During jury selection, some potential jurors admitted that, because of my youth, they could not presume me innocent. "I'm a high school principal," one man announced, "so I know what kids that age are like. If police say he did something wrong, he probably did." (At 21, I was older than high-school-age, but not enough older.) Those who admitted this prejudice were politely excused from the jury. Those who kept quiet about their prejudices were allowed to stay.
In this trial, the prosecutor did not have the facts on her side, nor did she have the law. But she had ageism, and she played it like a pro. For her closing remarks to the jury, she pointed at me and started with the words "This young man...", emphasizing my age, reminding the jury I was not one of them, I was not entitled to the same consideration and fairness they would demand for themselves. Later she told the jurors, "What we have here is a young man who has just been watching too much TV." My TV-viewing habits had never come up in the trial. They had nothing to do with the facts. She threw this in because it is an ageist stereotype, another reminder to the middle-aged jurors that I wasn't one of them. Were she trying someone black before a jury of twelve whites, she might have said, "What we have here is a black man who has just been eating too many watermelons."
Ironically, the prosecutor was counting on the jury's TV-viewing to deliver the verdict that would help her conviction-rating.
The jurors had heard two stories in this trial and had to choose one to believe. From the prosecutor, the story was of police engaged in a routine arrest when they found a youth standing too close for safety. They politely asked him to move back a few steps, and — for no reason — the kid stubbornly refused to get out of their way, leaving the officers no choice but to arrest him.
This story would make little sense in real life. But on TV and in movies and in novels, this scenario is acted out all the time: evil, unreasonable kids refuse to cooperate, just to make life difficult for blameless adults.
From the defense, jurors heard another story. White cops were threatening to club a defenseless black man. When they saw a bystander several feet away, they ordered him to move several feet further (to the other side of a view-obstructing bus shelter) so they wouldn't have to worry about heroes or even good witnesses. The conscientious youth swallowed his fear and politely said no, hence his arrest.
The jurors never saw anything like that on TV. Pop-culture portrays youths as predators, not good Samaritans.
I should point out the key element of this story was never contradicted by evidence or testimony. The police who testified never denied they had brandished a weapon and threatened a defenseless man. They simply glossed over it. My public defender did not ask them about it because he assumed they would lie, and he did not want their denial on record. The prosecutor, also, chose not to ask them about it.
While my story was not contradicted by evidence, it was contradicted by popular stereotypes. On sit-coms and dramas, young people are base and self-centered. In movies and in mystery novels, we routinely see young people raping women, beating the elderly, and terrorizing innocent adults everywhere.
The news media bolster that stereotype. They give wider coverage to crimes committed by youth, and they emphasize the ages of young criminals while they bury the ages of older criminals. The effect of this has been documented. A 1994 Gallup Poll asked respondents to estimate the percentage of violent crime that is committed by teenagers. The real number was 13%. Yet two-thirds of respondents mistakenly guessed the number would be more than twice that. And one-fourth of respondents believed teenagers alone commit more than half of all violent crimes! As Gallup Poll Monthly concluded, "because of recent news coverage of violent crimes committed by juveniles, the public has a greatly inflated view of the amount of violent crime committed by persons under the age of 18."
Politicians pander to the misguided and reinforce their stereotypes. President Clinton has been known to rant about "13-year-olds with automatic weapons" without ever mentioning that the average American is twice as likely to be murdered by someone born the same year as Bill Clinton as to be killed by a 13-year-old. Clinton has never said a word about 20-year-olds conscientiously defying punk-cops.
So the jurors took all they had heard from the media, from our political leaders, and from the entertainment industry, and weighed that against what little they had heard in court. They returned a verdict of "guilty."
Afterward, the prosecutor asked for off-the-record feedback from jurors. One juror complained the prosecutor had not made her case clear enough and had left the jury unsure of how my alleged actions violated the law. This juror did not seem to worry that she had just convicted an innocent person; she was simply upset the prosecutor had given her too little ammunition to use in the jury room against that one pesky black juror who spent several hours arguing for "not guilty" before caving in to the crowd.
This experience wounded whatever faith I had left in "the system". Frankly, I was surprised I had any faith left. Events like this are all too common. That high school principal who assumed I was guilty before the trial even started was typical of every principal I ever faced at every school I ever attended, and of principals and other adults throughout our nation. In her book Schoolgirls, Peggy Orinstien got one high school principal to admit on the record that, in dealing with a dispute between a student and a teacher, he would never take the student's side no matter what the situation.
Our whole society seethes with hatred for the young. I can count a hundred movies I've seen where an adult hits a child or teenager and the youth simply accepts it rather than hitting back or pressing charges. I haven't seen one movie showing the reverse. Rapists who prey on children are cheered-on by porno mags (Barely Legal), rock stars (Queen, George Michael, Sonic Youth, The Cherry-Popping Daddies), and novelists (Joseph Hanson, Vladimir Nabokov). In supposedly Christian churches, preachers impress upon their followers that children are to be viewed as property of their parents who deserve physical punishment if they disobey. (Ironically, the Bible quotes Jesus many times suggesting it is a sin to subjugate yourself to your parents (1), so clergymen are putting bigotry above their own Bible.)
My public defender juggled a few other cases at the same time as mine. One was a child-abuse case. They had caught the man when his daughter wound up in a hospital after being thrown down a flight of stairs. The same District Attorney's Office that prosecuted me dropped the charges against this man. They claimed the stitches in the little girl's face didn't constitute enough evidence for a trial. Like other politicians, D.A.'s are tough on crime when the perpetrators are young, soft on crime when the victims are.
"Ageism on Trial | children and teenagers facing prejudice | Pro-Youth Pages." The Pro-Youth Pages | challenging prejudice against youth. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Bias on the job
To me, it seems as if the older generation like our grandparents are loosing their jobs that they have had for a long time just to be replaced with a younger person, fresh out of college. I think employers value college degrees over long time work experience. I think it is too bad that it is this way for many jobs.
For thousands of American workers, it’s the same message they claim to hear on the job. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has received more than 19,000 age discrimination complaints in each of the past two years, and has helped win tens of millions of dollars in settlements.
However, attorneys say age discrimination often is hard to prove. Only about one-seventh of the EEOC age cases were settled to the complainant’s benefit.
Aging in America
Older Americans are finding innovatives ways to live and get care in their later years.
New Yorker Bill DeLong, 84, was fired three years ago from his longtime job as a waiter at a Shea Stadium restaurant, but he continues to seek out charitable volunteer assignments and still works as a waiter occasionally at special events.
“I didn’t give up,” he said. “A lot of my contemporaries give up too soon.”
Seventy-eight-year-old Catherine Roberts stays active with New York City’s Joint Public Affairs Committee for Older Adults, a coalition that encourages seniors to advocate on their own behalf on legislative and community issues.
“I don’t have time to get old,” said Roberts, who came to New York from Maine in 1955. “I’m too busy.”
Yet despite her upbeat outlook, she resents how some of her peers are treated. “We’re a culture that worships youth,” she said. “Seniors are getting pushed aside. I see people in my building whose families ignore them — they fall through the cracks.”
Source: MSNBC
For thousands of American workers, it’s the same message they claim to hear on the job. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has received more than 19,000 age discrimination complaints in each of the past two years, and has helped win tens of millions of dollars in settlements.
However, attorneys say age discrimination often is hard to prove. Only about one-seventh of the EEOC age cases were settled to the complainant’s benefit.
Aging in America
Older Americans are finding innovatives ways to live and get care in their later years.
New Yorker Bill DeLong, 84, was fired three years ago from his longtime job as a waiter at a Shea Stadium restaurant, but he continues to seek out charitable volunteer assignments and still works as a waiter occasionally at special events.
“I didn’t give up,” he said. “A lot of my contemporaries give up too soon.”
Seventy-eight-year-old Catherine Roberts stays active with New York City’s Joint Public Affairs Committee for Older Adults, a coalition that encourages seniors to advocate on their own behalf on legislative and community issues.
“I don’t have time to get old,” said Roberts, who came to New York from Maine in 1955. “I’m too busy.”
Yet despite her upbeat outlook, she resents how some of her peers are treated. “We’re a culture that worships youth,” she said. “Seniors are getting pushed aside. I see people in my building whose families ignore them — they fall through the cracks.”
Source: MSNBC
Ageism Intro
Ageism: An Introduction
American society has been described as maintaining a stereotypic and often negative perception of older adults (Busse, 1968). This negative and/or stereotypic perception of aging and aged individuals is readily apparent in such areas as language, media, and humor. For example, such commonly used phrases as "over the hill" and "don't be an old fuddy-duddy" denote old age as a period of impotency and incompetency (Nuessel, 1982). The term used to describe this stereotypic and often negative bias against older adults is "ageism" (Butler, 1969).
Ageism can be defined as "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, p. 4). As an "ism", ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults.
Ageism, however, is different from other "isms" (sexism, racism etc.), for primarily two reasons. First, age classification is not static. An individual's age classification changes as one progresses through the life cycle. Thus, age classification is characterized by continual change, while the other classification systems traditionally used by society such as race and gender remain constant. Second, no one is exempt from at some point achieving the status of old, and therefore, unless they die at an early age, experiencing ageism. The later is an important distinction as ageism can thus affect the individual on two levels. First, the individual may be ageist with respect to others. That is s/he may stereotype other people on the basis of age. Second, the individual may be ageist with respect to self. Thus, ageist attitudes may affect the self concept.
Much research has been conducted concerning ageism. However, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. Some research demonstrates the existence of ageist attitudes (Golde & Kogan, 1959; Kastenbaum & Durkee, 1964a, 1964b; Tuckman & Lorge, 1953) and other research does not (Brubaker & Powers, 1976; Schonfield, 1985). This discrepancy is most likely the result of methodological differences and, in particular, methodological errors. A brief discussion of the major methodological errors or problems found in ageism research may be helpful in clarifying this point.
The first major problem is that the majority of ageism research suffers from a mono-method bias. In other words, each study used only one method to operationally define the ageism construct. Methods commonly used have included sentence completion (Golde & Kogan, 1959), semantic differential (Kogan & Wallach, 1961; Rosencranz & McNevin, 1969), Likert scales (Kilty & Feld, 1976), and adjective checklists (Aaronson, 1966). The problem inherent in the use of a mono-method is that any effect found may be an artifact of the method employed rather than the construct under study. Thus, a researcher should employ more than one method to look for consistency in the results.
Another problem, according to Kogan (1979) is the use of within-subjects designs in ageism research. In other words, a subject will be asked to complete a questionnaire regarding both younger and older adults. Kogan asserts that by using this methodology, age is pushed to the foreground of a subject's mind. The subject thus becomes aware that the researcher is looking for age differences. Therefore, age differences are found.
The use of primarily younger populations to study ageism represents another problem with ageism research. The majority of ageism research uses children, adolescents, or young adults as subjects and examines their perception of older adults. Only a few studies have examined the perceptions of the population whom the construct affects most - older adults. Those studies which have used an older subject population have unfortunately used primarily institutionalized individuals as subjects (Kastenbaum & Durkee, 1964a; Tuckman & Lavell, 1957). Therefore, they do not represent the vast majority of older adults.
Another problem with much of ageism research is that it only examines the negative stereotypes of old age. More recent studies have suggested that while attitudes toward the aged are increasingly positive, they are still stereotypic (Austin, 1985). Therefore, ageism has been expanded to include positive stereotypic images. However, these are rarely studied (Brubaker & Powers, 1976).
Two additional problems are primarily theoretical in nature. First, ageism research rarely examines or attempts to understand the causes of ageism. Thus, while much theoretical work has been conducted concerning the factors contributing to ageism, little empirical research has been conducted in this area. Second, ageism research rarely examines the interaction between ageism and other "isms". As many individuals are in a position to experience more than one prejudice, the interaction between these prejudices needs to be examined.
Ageism. (n.d.). Webster University. Retrieved February 21, 2010, from http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageism.html
American society has been described as maintaining a stereotypic and often negative perception of older adults (Busse, 1968). This negative and/or stereotypic perception of aging and aged individuals is readily apparent in such areas as language, media, and humor. For example, such commonly used phrases as "over the hill" and "don't be an old fuddy-duddy" denote old age as a period of impotency and incompetency (Nuessel, 1982). The term used to describe this stereotypic and often negative bias against older adults is "ageism" (Butler, 1969).
Ageism can be defined as "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, p. 4). As an "ism", ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults.
Ageism, however, is different from other "isms" (sexism, racism etc.), for primarily two reasons. First, age classification is not static. An individual's age classification changes as one progresses through the life cycle. Thus, age classification is characterized by continual change, while the other classification systems traditionally used by society such as race and gender remain constant. Second, no one is exempt from at some point achieving the status of old, and therefore, unless they die at an early age, experiencing ageism. The later is an important distinction as ageism can thus affect the individual on two levels. First, the individual may be ageist with respect to others. That is s/he may stereotype other people on the basis of age. Second, the individual may be ageist with respect to self. Thus, ageist attitudes may affect the self concept.
Much research has been conducted concerning ageism. However, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. Some research demonstrates the existence of ageist attitudes (Golde & Kogan, 1959; Kastenbaum & Durkee, 1964a, 1964b; Tuckman & Lorge, 1953) and other research does not (Brubaker & Powers, 1976; Schonfield, 1985). This discrepancy is most likely the result of methodological differences and, in particular, methodological errors. A brief discussion of the major methodological errors or problems found in ageism research may be helpful in clarifying this point.
The first major problem is that the majority of ageism research suffers from a mono-method bias. In other words, each study used only one method to operationally define the ageism construct. Methods commonly used have included sentence completion (Golde & Kogan, 1959), semantic differential (Kogan & Wallach, 1961; Rosencranz & McNevin, 1969), Likert scales (Kilty & Feld, 1976), and adjective checklists (Aaronson, 1966). The problem inherent in the use of a mono-method is that any effect found may be an artifact of the method employed rather than the construct under study. Thus, a researcher should employ more than one method to look for consistency in the results.
Another problem, according to Kogan (1979) is the use of within-subjects designs in ageism research. In other words, a subject will be asked to complete a questionnaire regarding both younger and older adults. Kogan asserts that by using this methodology, age is pushed to the foreground of a subject's mind. The subject thus becomes aware that the researcher is looking for age differences. Therefore, age differences are found.
The use of primarily younger populations to study ageism represents another problem with ageism research. The majority of ageism research uses children, adolescents, or young adults as subjects and examines their perception of older adults. Only a few studies have examined the perceptions of the population whom the construct affects most - older adults. Those studies which have used an older subject population have unfortunately used primarily institutionalized individuals as subjects (Kastenbaum & Durkee, 1964a; Tuckman & Lavell, 1957). Therefore, they do not represent the vast majority of older adults.
Another problem with much of ageism research is that it only examines the negative stereotypes of old age. More recent studies have suggested that while attitudes toward the aged are increasingly positive, they are still stereotypic (Austin, 1985). Therefore, ageism has been expanded to include positive stereotypic images. However, these are rarely studied (Brubaker & Powers, 1976).
Two additional problems are primarily theoretical in nature. First, ageism research rarely examines or attempts to understand the causes of ageism. Thus, while much theoretical work has been conducted concerning the factors contributing to ageism, little empirical research has been conducted in this area. Second, ageism research rarely examines the interaction between ageism and other "isms". As many individuals are in a position to experience more than one prejudice, the interaction between these prejudices needs to be examined.
Ageism. (n.d.). Webster University. Retrieved February 21, 2010, from http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageism.html
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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