Negatives Of Ageism

One of the most major negative influences on peoples’ attitudes towards aging is the form of discrimination known as ageism, which is defined by Robert Butler, who coined the term in 1969 as “a process of systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people because they are old” (Penning, 2016, slide 18). This type of discrimination is comparable to sexism or racism, except dissimilar to these everyone ages and becomes old. Ageism is a consequence from lack of actual knowledge about aging; Butler sees ageism as showing fear or dislike for aging, because so many people have negative attitudes towards growing old (Penning, 2016, slide 18). Examples of ageism include being ignored because you are old, being made fun of because of your age or being treated delicately because people think you are fragile and frail. …show more content…
It has been discovered that in Canada ageism is the most endured form of social discrimination. Along with ageism is a term that began in 1997 and has had increased use as time has passed- “senior moments” which is said to represent a temporary mental lapse because of the gradual loss of one’s memory or mind because of growing old. To illustrate, people blaming a “senior moment” for forgetting their keys, or what they were talking about or what day it is; even if the term is used in a joking manner, it has negative impacts on older people’s self-esteem. The growing use of the term proposes that negative attitudes and stereotypes of aging remain socially