Ageism in America | Agism, Discrimination Against Elderly People

Since the 1960s a number of critiques have been developed about the misrepresentations inherent in the images which portray minority groups. Critiques have been increasingly made of what are seen as demeaning images of women, gays, the elderly, ethnic groups and regional minorities. Here the assumption is that such groups suffer from the imposition of negative stereotypes: images which do not accurately represent their everyday realities and aspirations. Such stereotypes are constructed from a complex blend of discourse and sensory images (largely visual).

In his discussion of the often over-simplistic and romantic images of ageism in America which predominated in the past, Andrew Achenbaum makes some germane points in this context. He argues that many of the photographs of old Americans which he used in his book Images of Old Age in America (Achenbaum and Kusnerz, 1978) were of white people, despite his intention to get away from over-simple stereotypes. In the case of sexism and racism it is the misrecognition of others which induces women and ethnic minorities to adopt a negative image of themselves based upon the internalization of images of their own inferiority (cf. Fanon’s 1986 discussion in Black Skins, White Masks).

In the case of aging, there have been a number of movements in the west (the most noted being the Gray Panthers, American Association of Retired Persons, Age Concern, Help the Aged) largely since the 1960s which have sought to combat age discrimination in employment markets, the reversal of the mandatory retirement age, as well as ageist language and negative stereotypes of the aged in general. The images of positive and healthy aging people they seek to advance amount to a deconstruction of the image of old age as a necessary phase of bodily decline.

We will discuss the new images of positive aging shortly, but first it is important to note that such images are not new: as Stephen Katz outlines in his contribution there is a long history of concern with longevity and improving the quality of life in old age through diet and reduced calorie intake. The work society with its loss of function and income which came with mandatory third age retirement became bolstered by a consumer culture with its images of eternal youth, fitness and exercise and beauty lifestyles which produced a new set of exclusions for older people.

One powerful image of old age which causes concern is the notion that the elderly go into a second childhood. As Jenny Hockey and Allison James argue in their chapter, this long-standing image in our culture is still with us, bolstered by a range of representations such as the elderly wearing Donald Duck hats for tea-parties in old people’s homes. Ageism can therefore operate through the dominance of images of dependency which take away the adult status and personhood of the elderly. As Hockey and James remark, ‘By linking old age with childhood the hegemony of adulthood remains unbroken’. The bodily betrayals of old age can therefore result in a stigmatizing process which has been referred to as the ‘mask of ageing’, pointing to the inability of the body to adequately represent the inner self.

Unlike the other social oppositions, youth and old age, and indeed all positions in the life course, are transitional statuses within a universal process. Without effort we will move from youth to old age and what was from the point of view of youth the distant ‘unreliability’ of old age, becomes a haunting possibility for people in mid life once they have reached ‘a certain age’. It is therefore not surprising that many of our representations of women are constructed in terms of physical appearance and that images and self- images of the bodies of older women cause such problems.

Jeff Hearn, for example, in his chapter argues that the category men necessarily points to age, as it implies a fundamental distinction within the male gender between men and boys. Kathleen Woodward also introduces complexities into some of the simple binary images of gender and aging. She points out that Freud had great difficulties incorporating the aging woman into his theory: the older woman past the age of reproduction was also deemed to be past sexuality and gender and could not therefore easily be fitted into the discourse. In addition, Woodward also makes some very interesting observations about generational conflict and the treatment of older women by members of the Women’s Movement. This tension between the pull towards over-simplifying stereotypes of youth and old age and the opposite pull towards the discovery of increasing complexity and differentiation is also found within the emergent consumer culture discourse and images of old age. Holiday brochures are concerned to show images which affirm identity through an invented tradition which emphasizes communalism and collective rituals. Of course positive aging does not provide the solutions to the problems of deep old age and death: its message is essentially one of denial, keep smiling and carry on consuming.