 Health & Nutrition
Thoughts on
Aging
Ageism: What is it and how did it develop?
(3 minutes: 37 seconds)
 MP3 (audio
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Audio/Video Script:
Dr. LaVona Traywick
Assistant Professor - Gerontology
[Announcer] Welcome to Thoughts on Aging with Dr. LaVona Traywick,
Assistant Professor of Gerontology with the University of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.
[Dr. LaVona Traywick] Ageism is prejudice, discrimination, and hostility directed against people
because of their age. Ageism is most often directed toward older adults in our
society, but this was not always the case.
For example, in colonial times,
because not very many people lived to be old, it was considered an
accomplishment to age. With no pensions, older adults in colonial times
continued to work and were considered a wealth of knowledge about work and life.
The industrial revolution abandoned this thought, for with industrialization,
came better sanitation and medical care.
With more and more people surviving
into old age, aging was no longer an honorable distinction to hold. In addition,
the knowledge of an older adult was no longer valued as mass production and mass
education continued to expand. Aging soon became a liability versus an asset.
Media, which is a powerful presence that helps shape and influence our ideas about aging,
has for a long time embraced the young and looked down upon the process of
growing old. With the increasing rise in age from the great Baby Boom
(which are those individuals born between 1946 – 1964), the meaning of old age is changing again
as this is a healthier, stronger, and more opinionated generation than ever
before.
The boomers are influencing society to see old age a time of renewal or
as a new stage of growth—not just as a period that precedes death. Society will
have to react to Baby Boomers. Hopefully the will demonstrate that the "celebration of youth can coexist quite
productively with high respect for the skills, knowledge, and individual
attributes of older people" (Vesperi, 2003, p. 3).
Many older adults can now
financially take care of themselves, they are actively taking part in
preventative health measures and healthcare decisions, seeking financial
security, and securing long term care options. While large numbers of older
adults do face memory impairment, depression, chronic health conditions, and
disability, most older adults are not lonely, isolated, sick or frail. They
live independently and maintain contact with their friends and families.
The
area of aging is one of rapid growth—from scholarly work, to clinical practice,
to media hype, and public policy. Such resources aim to enhance people's
attitudes toward aging so that society can dispel misunderstandings and embrace
the aging process for oneself and for others. Iissues of aging affect us no
matter how old we are.
I'm Dr. LaVona Traywick and these are a few "Thoughts on Aging".
[Announcer] Thank you for listening to Thoughts on Aging with Dr. LaVona
Traywick. To learn more about this and other topics, contact your local county
Cooperative
Extension Service office.
Reference:
Henslin, J. (2006). Introductory sociology: Soc 100. Boston, MA:
Pearson Custom Publishing.
Vesperi, M. (2003). Foty-nine plus: Shifting images of aging in the media.
Working paper prepared for conference on Baby Boomers and Retirement: Impact on
Civic Engagement. Reprinted with permission from Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers
and Civic Engagement. Center for Health Communication, Harvard School of Public
Health, 2004. Boston, MA: 125-158.
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