Stereotypes and the Elderly - 1243 Words

In American society, it seems that we treasure youth and either fear or are disappointed to reach old age. Our culture has a big influence on how the elderly are perceived has stereotyped this population, mostly seen through the media. Even in films, TV, books, and magazines old people are often portrayed as frail, weak, klutzy, or indecisive. We should look treat our elderly with respect for the fact that they are more associated with experience, knowledge, and wisdom than a younger population. Ageism describes this discrimination against the old due to misconceptions and ignorance. Every person has their own perceptions of seniors and growing old. As an individual grows up, those perceptions are influenced by family, friends, and any†¦show more content†¦With all the different types of media around us, it doesn’t take much time to learn plenty about aging. Either seen as forgetful, cranky or decrepit, you have to think that these people are seeing the stereotype of themselves too. As older people watch TV, they are worsening their views of their own peer group. Our society needs to understand that when people are being grouped together like this and discriminated against, it can effect them emotionally and sometimes gets taken to heart. I think that some older people may even believe their own stereotypes about them themselves and thus live up to it. This doesn’t help the situation and just continues the cycle of their stereotype. When our culture put these views upon society it affects how we act and treat that part of our population. The number of people aged 65 and older is rising everyday. With the baby boomer population at hand, we need to better understand our elders. I’m sure there are a lot of people who never want to be â€Å"old† or be associated with â€Å"old people† and this can have an affect on their relationships with older people and therefore never understanding the truth behind old age. This is a meaningful exchange that gets ignored and so I believe continues to influence the minds of most Americans. I think we, especially the younger population, could learn a tremendous amount from our elderlyShow MoreRelatedLabeling Theory and Media Stereotypes of the Elderly Essay3301 Words   |  14 PagesLabeling Theory and Media Stereotypes of the Elderly Introduction Stereotypes have an overwhelming effect especially on the people they are directed towards. Studying stereotypes helps in understanding the factors leading to discrimination of certain people and not others. This is because stereotypes are depictive of opinions that are often passed from one generation to another within a particular culture. 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