Age Discrimination
Discrimination against the Elderly American society has been described as maintaining a stereotypic and often negative perception of older adults. This negative and/or stereotypic perception of aging and aged individuals is apparent in such areas as language, media, and humor. For example, such commonly used phrases as over the hill and an old fart denote old age as a period of impotency and incompetence. The term used to describe this stereotypic and often negative bias against older adults is ageism. 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"(Webster 25). As an ism, ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. The victims of bigotry and prejudice are generally referred to as minorities. This is not because they are necessarily fewer in number, but because they are deprived of the rights and privileges of the majority (the Aged 4). 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 progress throug
Elders have made substantial gains in status. Critics have recently begun to declare that various programs and services for seniors only have become positive ageism. However, this is rarely acknowledged, much less studied (Ageism 17). Two additional problems are mainly theoretical in nature. First, ageism research rarely examines or attempts to understand the causes of ageism. So, while much theoretical work has been conducted concerning the factors contributing to ageism, little experimental 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. For instance when ageism is combined with sexism, it is called double jeopardy. The term for ageism, sexism, and racism collectively against one person is triple jeopardy (Ageism 11). Ageism, along with every other prejudice, is an appalling subject to face. It is not just going to go away. Great advancements toward ending ageism have been made in the United States. Congress passed a bill called the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prevents people from getting fired for being too old. Various groups such as the American Association of Retired Persons have been formed to fight for senior citizen rights. Life expectancy has risen thirty years in the past century. Since 1960, there has been a 100 percent increase in those over the age of sixty-five and a 274 percent increase of those over eighty-five. The so-called baby boom generation, those Americans born in the 1950’s are seventy-six million strong and will make up s
Some topics in this essay:
Elderly American,
Retired Persons,
Employment Act,
ageism research,
United Congress,
age classification,
online 1,
life expectancy,
age discrimination employment,
Age Discrimination,
Discrimination Employment,
individual ageist respect,
research rarely examines,
percent increase,
adults ageism,
age forty-five,
sexism racism,
rarely examines,
ageism research rarely,
research rarely,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 1140
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
More Essays on Age Discrimination Professional Papers: |
CUSTOMER SERVICES
|
|
Saved Papers
You haven't saved any papers.
|