Images by Prostock-Studio and quickshooting - Getty Images. Composition by Timothy Czerniakowski
Ageism illustration
With my most recent birthday behind me—and I ain’t no spring chicken—I feel the insidious presence of ageism in our culture. While not as visible as sexism or racism, it remains equally destructive. In some ways, it is a silent “ism” that garners far less notice or condemnation than the others.
For example, there are legions of folks in their 60s, 70s and beyond who, despite a wealth of talent and experience and a desire to contribute, can’t land a job commensurate with their capabilities. The disqualifier? Age. And when older workers are “let go,” to use the popular euphemism for fired, many employers are careful to construct legally defensible but still bogus reasons for doing so, employing a CYA strategy. In our youth obsessed culture, being older often proves an occupational and financial liability.
This issue emerges in widely shared attitudes toward senior politicians, like Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell and a host of others. The general view regards them as “over the hill.” Meanwhile, the immaturity and incompetence of many of their younger colleagues, including some who can’t form words with more than two syllables or pass a basic civics course, often gets overlooked because . . . well, they aren’t old.
Youth is No Guarantee
Sure, we can age out of certain abilities, both mental and physical, and there comes a time when advanced age robs folks of the capacities needed to perform particular functions. But being younger is no guarantee that a person knows what the hell they are doing on a job or in life. Meaning we should evaluate a person’s competence based on their character and performance, not their birthdate.
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In the social arena, mocking people for their age is widely accepted, even applauded. Insult people based on their race or gender, and one is far more likely to feel the wrath of those who rightly believe in treating others with respect. I think those individuals are called “woke,” which, to me, is a compliment. But even these folks often fail to display sensitivity toward elder bias.
For instance, consider the popular TV ads by Progressive Insurance where various younger people are saved from “turning into your parents” by some self-help guru with the demeanor of a frog. The implication? Older people are fuddy-duddies. The background music is gloomy, as if some tragedy is underway. What if you happen to admire your parents? Wouldn’t you like to be like them? No, the ad asserts. Why? Because they’re old.
Some social science surveys ask younger people what they think of when they hear words like senior, elder, old, octogenarian, etc. Most associate these labels with senility, clumsiness, dependency, infirmity and death. The composite image is of doddering old fools staggering from bathroom to kitchen to bed, mumbling to themselves. Are there some elders like that? Sure. And there are some 20-somethings like that.
So, the next time you hear someone make a hurtful “joke” at an elder’s expense, or witness some other slur or bias aimed at the old, consider saying telling that person to grow up. Perhaps add that you hope the older version of their self proves kinder and wiser than the current one. Because we elders are more similar to younger folks than we are different. When we look in the mirror at that time-sculpted person, it often seems out of sync with how many of us feel inside — engaged with life and hopeful.
So, what makes us old? Is it the years? The wrinkles? How we climb stairs? I think it’s a state of mind that figures out one’s emotional and spiritual age, and if one remains optimistic in a realistic way and makes the best of what time remains, then ageism is unmasked. We see that it’s another dumb, petty ism, like all the rest.
As a warning for both young and old, philosopher Gabriel Garcia Marquez stated: “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.”
For more, visit philipchard.com.
