Ageism: The Last Acceptable Discrimination?

Generations of people before us fought for the basic liberties and rights that many of us now take for granted. In the UK, for example, some women gained the right to vote in 1918, but it wasn’t until 1928 that women were able to vote on the same terms as men. The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act became law on 2 July 1928.

We have come a long way in terms of equality, freedom of expression and social and economic rights. Yet there is one form of discrimination that is still surprisingly easy to overlook: ageism.

Ageism is not simply about being considered “old”. The World Health Organization defines it as the stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination directed towards people, or ourselves, because of our age. It can affect people of different generations and can appear in workplaces, institutions, relationships, the media and even in the way we think about ourselves.

Both men and women experience ageism, but it is often expressed differently.

Men, for example, may encounter ageism in the job market. Many companies can be reluctant to hire older workers, despite the experience they can bring to a role. Once someone reaches their late fifties or sixties, assumptions about their ability to adapt or learn new things can become more important than their actual abilities.

Imagine someone who, at the age of 50, decides that their calling in life is to work in television and has to start at the bottom as a runner. The chances are that their age would become part of the conversation in a way it wouldn’t for someone in their twenties. And starting again in a completely different career at that age can be considerably more difficult.

Age discrimination in employment is not simply a social observation either. In the UK, age is one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, which provides legal protection against certain forms of discrimination.

But while both sexes may experience ageism at work, women are often judged much more harshly on the basis of appearance.

 

      

 

Women have kept silent about this for years, sometimes because we have been taught to believe that getting older makes us less desirable, less attractive or somehow less relevant.

The beauty and fashion industries have certainly benefited from this anxiety. Women are constantly reminded that they should look a certain way at a certain age, and that getting older is something to be corrected, concealed or fought against.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good or taking care of yourself. The problem begins when ageing itself is treated as a failure.

We have all seen examples of women who appear to have gone too far with cosmetic procedures in an attempt to maintain a youthful appearance. But perhaps the more interesting question is why women feel that they have to fight so hard against something that happens to every human being.

It is up to us to challenge this psychological form of discrimination by talking about it, by refusing to be embarrassed about our ages and by questioning the idea that looking younger should always be the goal.

The women of 100 years ago are not the women of today in the way they think, act, dress, work or live. Women today have opportunities that previous generations could scarcely have imagined. So why should an outdated idea of what a woman is supposed to look like at 40, 50 or 60 continue to define us?

Age should not erase our achievements.

 

Ageism also feeds into the throwaway culture we live in. We are encouraged to replace things when they are no longer new, and sometimes that same mentality seems to be applied to people. Youth is presented as exciting, desirable and full of possibility, while older age is too often associated with decline, irrelevance or invisibility.

But experience matters. So does wisdom. So does knowing who you are.

The WHO now describes ageism as a widespread problem affecting people across societies, and its research shows that age-based stereotypes can have real consequences for people’s health, wellbeing and participation in society.

Perhaps one of the simplest ways to challenge ageism is to stop treating someone’s age as an explanation for everything they are, or are not, capable of doing.

We should point it out when we hear a disparaging comment about someone’s age. We should question the assumption that a woman becomes less interesting as she gets older, or that an older person has less to contribute simply because they have been alive for longer.

Getting older is not a failure. It is one of the few things we can be certain of if we are lucky enough to live long enough.

And perhaps that is the real problem with ageism: it asks us to be ashamed of something that, eventually, happens to all of us.

 

This Article and video has been published in the Huffington Post  in the USA Pics by Tim Ward.