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Ageism: What Is It?


What is "Ageism"?  It's complicated ... 

 

I went to our public library to see what I might find about "ageism".  For the subject heading there were 8 books across the multi-city locations.  Only one was in our local library, Still Here by Ram Dass (which I happen to own, and highly recommend), so I expanded my search to keywords, and within our library found a book by Robert N. Butler.  The description in the catalog record indicated he claims to have coined the term, "ageism" (see note below).  So I went to the stacks and found his book, The Longevity Revolution in the 612.6 Dewey Decimal area, picked up Butler's book and a few others adjacent to it, and retreated to a quiet table to peruse them.  

As the LC Subject headings note, the subject is "complex" ↓  

LabelVocabularyConcept TypeSubdivision TypeIdentifier
1.AgeismLC Subject HeadingsTopicsh90001720
2.Ageism in advertisingLC Subject HeadingsTopicsh2008006394
3.Ageism--United StatesLC Subject HeadingsComplex Subjectsh2009114092

Many of the books shelved near Butler's focused on anti-aging, efforts to appear to be younger through cosmetics and clothing choices, hormonal treatments (pros and cons), and other ways to try to avoid aging or the appearance of aging.

In The Longevity Revolution, Butler reminded readers that simultaneously the percentage of elders is growing and people are living longer, and points out that our society would benefit more from honoring and encouraging the wisdom, knowledge, skills and continued contributions from elders than from pushing them aside as no longer useful.  

He examines the nature of ageism as an institutionalized prejudice, similar to racism, gender discrimination or anti-gay prejudice.  He writes:  "An ageist younger generation sees older people as different than itself; it subtly ceases to identify with its elders as human beings as men become geezers, old goats, gaffers, fogies, coots ... and old women are gophers and geese.  A crone, hag or withered old woman." 

 These excerpts from Butler's book look at ageism and some of his recommendations:



...


...




Transforming cultural sensitivity will include shifts in how elders are seen.  "It is time to change the language and imagery of old age in the media and to sensitive journalists and writers about the language of ageism."  (Butler)

In order to work towards this transformation, we who identify ourselves as elders must shift our own inner perceptions of ourselves and our peers.  It is not a small thing to change our thinking, to straighten up and walk tall (metaphorically if not always physically), to present ourselves to ourselves AND to the world as strong and beautiful in our own right, just as we each are today.


Note:  According to his book, Robert Butler's first use of the term in 1969 was both for a conference speech and for an article, "Ageism:  Another Form of Bigotry" in the Gerontologist Volume 9, pages 243-246.  (See: http://www.romolocapuano.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Butler_Age-ism.pdf )





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