Ageism Awareness Day
Saturday is Ageism Awareness Day. Too bad that we have to dedicate a day to becoming aware of the many ways we insult, embarrass, ignore, and discriminate against older people. But, it’s better than nothing.
Ageism is a type of discrimination that involves prejudice against people based on their age. Ageism can operate both consciously (explicitly) and unconsciously (implicitly), and it can be expressed at three different levels: micro-level (individual), meso-level (social networks), and macro-level (institutional and cultural).
The cover of the current issue of The New Yorker is an example of macro-level ageism. We hear a lot about institutional racism, but not so much about institutional ageism. We hear about the negative effects of aging every day on the news in today’s politics with no mention of the many positive aspects of aging. There are many.
I’m a part of the Silent generation, and I can tell you that there’s not a lot of demand for folks in my tribe. In addition, we face as much discrimination as any other “protected” group. The only difference is that it’s socially acceptable to discriminate against us. It starts at the lower end of Generation X. Just ask any 40-50-year-old who has lost his/her job how it feels to be left behind. In honor of Ageism Awareness Day, let’s take a look at some of the ways
Jokes. In our politically correct society, it’s not OK to make jokes about gays, lesbians, blacks, Latinos, Jews, et al. But everybody loves a good “old joke”. Especially those jokes about old people having sex . . . or not having sex. Stephen Colbert is one of the funniest late-night talk show hosts on the air today, but almost every night he makes a joke about older people, usually the president.
40th birthdays. Aren’t those over the hill birthday cards a hoot? And the black balloons. That’s when we get the first inkling that we’re being left behind.
Stereotyping. I knew I was getting old, but I hoped nobody would notice. Then people started asking me if I was retired when they met me. When I got a senior discount without asking for it, I knew I had entered another world.
The job market. Forget about it. Yes, we’re a protected class. The reason we have protected classes is because people want to discriminate based on a variety of factors and age is one of them. Even though it’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of age, it’s tough to get a job past a certain age. I have two degrees and a wealth of experience with organizational development in large and small corporations, but I feel like a homeless person on the street corner with a sign when I go into the job market. That’s unfortunate because the other generations could learn a lot from me. And, I could learn a lot from them as well.
Coming out. We hear a lot about the feeling of liberation that Gays feel when they can finally be who they are without fear of exclusion. Many of us get to that point with our age. We’re embarrassed to tell people our age. It’s a liberating feeling to say, “I’m 81, and I’m proud of it.”
Old is an adjective that makes any noun worse. Let’s take one of the favorite expressions used to describe old people – old fart. let’s break that down. A fart is bad enough by itself because we all know what one of those things can do in a room, elevator, or under the sheets. But, old? Let’s imagine what it’s like after it’s fermented in there for a while. This thing that would make any space uninhabitable is used as a metaphor to describe what Tom Brokaw called The Greatest Generation. We can do better.
What do we do? Maybe we can get Woke about aging. Woke is an adjective that means being aware of social inequalities. All change, social or cultural, starts with awareness.
Let’s get Woke about ageism.