...lives of four elderly women living in Miami during the 1980s. As I am watching, I for the first time notice the four "elderly" women depicted in the show all defy the general concepts of ageing as well as ageing stereotypes. The female characters all are very healthy, fashionable, energetic, social, employed and have active love lives. This portrayal is a great contrast from the depiction of the grumpy, unhealthy, introverted and frail perceptions modern media and society associates with the elderly. This makes me wonder,...
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...When it comes to stereotypes there are many that are stated about several different groups of people but they are not always true. Stereotypes are what people conclude about specific types of individuals with certain ways of doing things or acting a certain way but it may not accurately depict reality or the truth. There are many stereotypes out there that depict how we treat and see the older population. I have come across stereotypes that everyone deals with on a daily basis. It has led me to re-think stereotypes and the older population. The media is a large component of how society sees the older population and has many stereotypes about the elderly on a daily basis. The media such as television, movies, and commercials do not give an accurate presumption about the older population. We will look at their perspectives and how they portray the older population to determine if they are accurate or not. * Address stereotypes in the media (advertising, films and television) In the media stereotypes of the older population consist of overviews about deteriorating well-being, joy, and desirability. The elderly are often considered as “insatiable old folks” who unjustifiably exhaust our public resources by means of Medicare and Social Security. Different media outlets try to depict that the elderly age groups are not worthy of humane treatment. If older people are shown in the media they are shown in a stereotypical manner or often not included altogether. In order to guarantee...
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...Prejudice and stereotypic thinking among the elderly The term stereotype is often connected with ignorant beliefs such as “racism”, “homophobia”, and “sexism”. Despite the overtly negative connotation, stereotypes are simply expectations we hold about groups of people (Moskowitz, 2005, p.440). However, stereotyping can lead to prejudice. Although everyone stereotypes, some people are more prone to being prejudice than others, especially older individuals (Radvansky et al., 2010). It is widely held that the link between age and prejudice is attributed to the fact that older people grew up in a more prejudiced era, and their attitudes are a reflection of a less tolerant time. However, recent studies suggest otherwise. Inspired by Devine’s influential 1989 study showing that prejudice is caused by a failure to inhibit stereotypic thoughts, modern researchers theorize that a decline in inhibitory function causes older people to be more likely to make and maintain stereotypes. For years, the dominant belief was that prejudice is inevitable as long as stereotypes exist because it was thought that stereotypes are automatically applied to a social group (Devine, 1989). However, this theory does not explain why knowledge of a stereotype is not correlated with prejudice. A study conducted by Devine in 1989 resolved the discrepancy by proposing that while stereotypes are automatically activated, prejudice is due to a failure to inhibit stereotypic thoughts. In the first experiment...
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...group. These pre-conceived ideas are stereotypes and by definition is a thought or image about a group of people based on little evidence (Moore &Parker, pg 122). Stereotypes are created based on some idea of abstract familiarity. A stereotype can be deemed 'positive', or 'negative'. Concepts of stereotype are rarely invoked in instances of positive stereotypes. This paper will explore the stereotypes and rhetoric that are associated with four groups of people: politicians, tattooed persons, feminists, and senior citizens. When looking at the one stereotype politicians is the ad hominem fallacy. The ad hominem fallacy is “the confusion between the qualities of the person making a claim and the qualities in the claim itself” (Moore & Parker, pg 173). Politicians are thought of as self-serving, hypocritical and dishonest con-artist. During a political campaign we see on the news how one attacks their opponents. The personal attack ad hominem fallacy is attacking another with negative comment. During campaigning it is bad because of the personal attacks on each other in order to discredit the other person. This is how they want to get voters on their side to vote for them. Politicians are a very unique group of people to explore stereotyping because they are probably the only group who uses stereotyping against each other, lease of which is positive (Green, 2009 ). In many ways, politicians create their own stereotype by announcing on national TV that their...
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...investments had lost half of their value. She was forced to go back to work. The severe recession has caused many elderly people to have to go back to work. I found this story to be really sad. Elderly people work for many years and deserve a break. They deserve to enjoy the last years of their lives. The Basics: Aging and the Elderly Life expectancy is the number of years people can expect to live. People tend to have higher life expectancies in higher income countries like the United States. We have higher life expectancies because of the industrial revolution. This revolution brought changes in agriculture, technologies, and factory manufacturing. Such as medicine advances and safer drinking water. Most Americans live to be around 70 or 80 years old. About 100 years ago, we only lived to be around 50 years old. Lower income countries tend to...
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...Lesson 14, #3: Describe 3 common stereotypes of old and younger people. Why do they exist? When I think of stereotypes, the first that comes to mind that both elderly and young share is that they can’t drive. Younger people are known for texting while driving, or having a lead foot, driving recklessly. On the flip side older people are considered slow drives and unaware of their surroundings. All of the descriptions on describing how both young and old drive, leads to car accidents. I do believe that this actually is a fairly accurate stereotype. Younger people have a false assurance that they can drive over the speed limit, text and jam out to really loud music and that nothing can hurt them. When new drivers get this false confidence in driving it leads to car accidents, which is quite common, and what gives teens/younger drivers a bad reputation. Not all young people are bad drivers, but the ones who are give the group as a whole that stereotype. Same goes for elderly drivers. I always say that “old folks don’t know how to drive” I sum up all older drivers as a whole from past experiences with driving behind a really slow driver that was older, and from being a passenger in a car with my own grandma who almost hit ten things in five minutes. When I compare all my grandparents three of them are great drivers, but my having awful experiences with driving with my grandma who hit everything, makes me sum up all older people as a whole and stating they are bad drivers, which...
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...Ageism “Please help us find this woman!” That was a post that made it to my Facebook page about a week ago. The post was accompanied by a picture of a middle-aged woman with an elderly gentleman in tow. Passengers on a commercial flight were witness to a case of elder abuse that left the elderly gentlemen in tears and the passengers enraged. There is no way to know if the story that was posted was true, but it certainly was heartbreaking and representative of an all too real problem that is on the rise in this country - elder abuse, a consequences of ageism. Defined Ageism is defined as prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person's age and is the systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people simply because they are old (Adams, 2000). The main theme with ageism is that younger people cannot relate to the elderly and see the gap between the two groups as very wide. As people begin to age their bodies, personalities and memories begin to change and those changes lead to the young having a hard time identifying with the...
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...There are many common stereotypes when referring to senior citizens. People often think to themselves: senior citizens are slow, bad drivers, rude, lazy, old-school and sickly; the list could go on. However, the documentary Young @ Heart, completely shatters most of these stereotypes and eliminates any misconceptions people may have towards senior citizens. The documentary follows a chorus of senior citizens from Northampton, Massachusetts, directed by Bob Cilman, from their rehearsals to their big performance. The film knocked down stereotypes, reinforced some common stereotypes and delivered a wonderful approach on the lives of these elderly people in Young @ Heart. It emphasized just how interesting their lives could be and it showed this in many ways. Considering the film is based on music that the chorus members sing, it is interesting to note that the overall music taste of the members is classical music, however the chorus performs pop, rock, R&B, alternative, heavy metal and punk songs. Although they may be old-school in their musical preferences, they love the overall energy of the songs and the joy it brings to their spectators. Bob Cilman wanted to turn up the heat for their next big performance by adding new songs to the mix. This was challenging for the members due to the fact that many of the songs were extremely fast and upbeat. Senior citizens may be stereotyped as slow, but eventually they were able to get the hang of it and complete the songs with no...
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...made on the healthcare system of the US, and the discriminatory practice of “ageism” that older patients currently face. The purpose of this paper is to explore, analyze, and evaluate both the practice of age discrimination in healthcare and the federal policy issues and efforts that are involved with it. The work begins by providing background information on the current demographics of the aging American population and forecasts for the impact this will likely have on the healthcare industry in the near future. It then transitions into a discussion on what ageism is, where its historical roots come from, and where it fits into the federal Fair Labor Act. A review of the literature is then presented, documenting the discrimination that elderly people are subjected to with regards to healthcare. The paper then explores the medical profession itself within this context, with a focus on examining the lack of geriatric training medical professionals receive and the limited number of existing programs designed to train these professionals in geriatrics. Attention is then turned to this issue from a public policy...
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...2014). Too many people look at the “old generation” is not being fit, or able to take care of themselves, therefore creating a burden among the rest of the “young” generation. I believe it is very dangerous to cast such judgments upon a group of people, particularly the group of individuals who are being condemned as “old.” Negative stereotypes continue to gain acceptance among younger age groups regarding the elderly, consisting of opinions and judgments of the loss of their minds, conservatism, lack of sexual drive, and decrease in productivity (Leon-Guerrero, 2014). This constant chain of events affect us in those around us due to the fact that the younger generation is being objected to the theory that all of these statements regarding the elderly are true, therefore molding their opinion regardless of the facts. Personally, I expect the same types of judgments or discrimination towards me, regarding my aging process and growing old. It is very likely that anyone who lives long enough will experience some type of ageism, and the negative effects that come along with it (Nemmers, 2004). Even though not all older people fit the classic stereotypes given by younger groups of individuals, it is the ones who do fit that form the mold of the opinions of others that put the older generation...
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...(Berger, 2008). As more aging adults continue to live healthy, socially active lives and maintain important family roles, it is important to refrain from stereotypical thought and the negativity of ageism, which can contribute to their premature decline. With technology and high quality medical care, aging adults continue to be a valuable resource for younger generations. Healthy habits and daily routines are essential for promoting health and wellness into late adulthood. Smoking, excessive drinking, lack of exercise, and overeating cost many individuals their ability to maintain an active and independent lifestyle as they age (Berger, 2008). Exercise and a healthy diet avert many common diseases and increases energy in the elderly. Changing daily habits, even late in life can help diminish some of the effects of aging (Berger, 2008). According to Berger (2008), almost all diseases and chronic conditions normally associated with aging are powerfully influenced by one's daily routines and habits. Health habits are crucial to physical...
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...long as possible instead of succumbing to isolating is key during this stage of adulthood (Berger, 2008). The more adults in this stage of aging that live socially active, healthy, and physically active lives while maintaining important family roles the more individuals will be refraining from the negative and stereotypical thoughts of ageism which will assist in their premature decline. High quality medical care assisted by technology can provide aging adults comfort knowing they are helping to protect and safeguard younger generations as science learns from the older generations. Ageism and Stereotypes In late adulthood, there are many stereotypes and unfavorable understandings of older adults (Emotional and Social Development in Late Adulthood, n.d.). Ageism, bigotry against someone’s age, is an example of a negative understanding of older adults. Some of these stereotypes are representations of weakness or ineptitude in a negative light, and some are just meant to be jokes (Emotional and Social Development in Late Adulthood, n.d.). The bias against older adult individuals in a negative light has been called ageism (Emotional and Social...
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...proportion of public services. For example, they require more health and social care than other age groups. This is truer when it involves the old old’. The old old’ are usually seen as the 75 years old and older as many people see them as needing more medical and care attention. However, some people will argue with this as many people of ‘old’ age still seem to be in relatively good health. It is not just health services that the elderly generation needs more of, in addition to this, the ageing population may require changes to policies, provision of housing, transport and many other services. The number of pensioners also living alone, had led to an increase in one-person pensioner households (they now account for 14% of households). Most of them are female. This is because females generally live longer than males and because they are usually younger than their husbands. Feminist think that this is great because it shows female dependency and they do not see this as a problem, whereas some people might as it takes up living space for the young and cost elderly people more money to keep the houses. The ageing population has also caused an increase in the dependency ratio. Like young children, the non-working...
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...youth and either fear or are disappointed to reach old age. Our culture has a big influence on how the elderly are perceived has stereotyped this population, mostly seen through the media. Even in films, TV, books, and magazines old people are often portrayed as frail, weak, klutzy, or indecisive. We should look treat our elderly with respect for the fact that they are more associated with experience, knowledge, and wisdom than a younger population. Ageism describes this discrimination against the old due to misconceptions and ignorance. Every person has their own perceptions of seniors and growing old. As an individual grows up, those perceptions are influenced by family, friends, and any interactions with the elderly. But as this individual gets older, they become more influenced by the media and what other people are telling us. I believe that in my generation, we are becoming more naive about our elders and I see and hear about it all the time. One that I get a lot is their driving capabilities. People say all the time that old people can’t drive when, in fact, I see younger people getting in accidents more than our seniors. They have been driving much longer than we have and maybe have more experienced skills in driving. In the advertisement I have chose, it reads, “John McCain is old. Do you want him driving your country?” There is picture of John McCain and an elderly lady driving and holding on the to the steering wheel very tightly. The picture is trying to send out...
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...Why age diversity is important All of the indications are that more people will need to continue working later in life. This is because on the one hand pensions are decreasing in value and on the other, people are becoming more likely to still have financial obligations such as mortgages or child/student support, later in life. Because there are also fewer younger people available for work. Employers will need to consider how they can best become an employer of choice for older workers and how they can retain older workers in an increasingly competitive market place. Employers will need to review their HR practices and procedures and arrangements for training to ensure compliance with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, but also to ensure that all employees including younger and older workers are respected and valued in a workplace that is attractive, responsive to their needs and optimizes their opportunity to contribute. For some organisations this will mean a significant culture change. Consider that 25-34 is the current favourite recruitment age of employers and The Employers Forum on Age has estimated that ageism costs the UK economy over £26bn each year. Diversiton’s one day course ‘Age Diversity’ will help you to explore the issues that affect your capacity to be an age positive employer and help you to identify the steps you need to take to fully comply with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. What do we mean by ageism? Ageism is a negative...
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