Can you give some examples of ageism in modern society?
Nowadays, ageism can be found everywhere and in every culture. It’s a complex combination of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination based on one’s age, affecting everyone’s life quality regardless of their age. As soon as a child becomes old enough to make sense of their emotions, they use their culture’s defined stereotypes to show their feelings and behave in specific and different ways around people of different ages.
One of the most common types of ageism is against older people in which youngsters exclude them from most of their shared activities and won’t be as friendly with them as they are with other youngsters. Of course, the opposite also exists. Most elders don’t think much of a youngster’s opinion, and they are convinced that youngsters can’t comprehend things as well as them before the first contact. Ageism isn’t limited to socializing. We can see its impact on many things such as politics, hiring, problem-solving, etc. There’s a set minimum age for people who want to vote in all countries and another set minimum age for those who wish to become candidates.
Another form of ageism that most people don’t think about is self-ageism which happens when people define specific qualities, actions, and lifestyles for a set range of age and build a list of expectations from each age group in their mind. This way, they go through each age group and limit themselves with the defined list of the age group they’re considered in currently.
And through all the things related to ageism, people’s view of themselves and other generations changes and prevents society from benefiting from what all ages have to contribute in any field.