By Julie E 
Photo Credit (Pixeles)
Our culture views aging as a decline, the dark side of life’s curve, even though there are more seniors in the United States now than at any point in history. The years after the age of 50 or 60 are often seen as a sort of existential purgatory, despite the commendable efforts of AARP and other “pro-aging” campaigners. This is because many perceive this time as spanning from the end of their truly active existence to death.
The stereotype that older individuals are less capable and less attractive than their youthful selves is horrible and inaccurate. The stereotype of the elderly as clumsy, clumsy drivers, hard-of-hearing couch potatoes is easy to observe. Research shows that even as young children have negative attitudes toward elderly people, these sentiments are hard to change by the time adolescents roll around. Particularly hostile to the elderly, Hollywood has resorted to using them as punchlines or disregarding them altogether. This has contributed to the perpetuation of negative age-related stereotypes in society and has a negative impact on the self-esteem of older individuals.
The cultural bias against old age (defined as “negative thoughts or beliefs about the process of becoming old or about old people”) is making baby boomers like myself the target of it more and more. One possible outcome of a culture that does not place much emphasis on becoming older is ageism, which is morally reprehensible and, when enforced in the workplace, unlawful. Our ageist culture has its origins in the past and has contributed to the rise of what is arguably the most youth-oriented society in human history. Disenfranchising and marginalizing older people from the rest of society has resulted from the fact that aging is both a concept and a reality that contradicts prevalent social values, attitudes, and beliefs. It would be reasonable to assume that the values of the United States would have changed dramatically over the past fifty years due to the aging of the largest generation in history (up until the millennials arrived), yet this has not been the case.
Last but not least, the peculiar rejection of aging as a perfectly normal process is the fundamental cause of many misconceptions, including the pervasive ageism that we see today. Although aging is a universal experience—just like birth and death—it is frequently perceived as something that happens to other individuals in the United States. The fact that everyone will age into old age makes the antipathy for and loathing of the elderly all the more strange. (With very few exceptions, humans do not change their gender or skin color; hence, racism and sexism cannot be the same.)
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Another way Americans try to escape the realities of aging is by believing that people change drastically or that it happens all of a sudden. Suddenly, a person is no longer a youthful person. This idea is totally at odds with the way people actually age, which is in a more gradual fashion. Also, biologically speaking, there is no one physical process of aging because the rate at which each part of the body ages varies from person to person.
Classifying individuals as “old people” is both ridiculous and ubiquitous; people in their 70s and 80s are just as unique and individualistic as those in their 30s and 40s, if not more so, because they have had more time to grow their distinct identities. Last but not least, although it may be hard to believe or accept, younger people may have a harder time accepting that older individuals do not stay in a fixed state of “oldness” but instead undergo continuous change.