My Experiences Of Ageism In our society, ageism is defined as discrimination and oppression against individuals and groups based on their age. This may include actions, languages, and limitations restricting our individual rights. Everything from movies to t.v. shows display a fear of aging and death or a need for youthfulness. Growing up I have been involved in a few situations where ageism and adult centrism was present. Adult centrism is the tendency of adults to view children and their problems from a biased, adult perspective (Goode, 1986). Specifically, I have been involved in three situations that taught me how ageism works in our Western Canadian Society. Firstly, a regular trip to the dollar store with my friends turned
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another experience ageism was involved is when I was holding my four month old cousin at a shopping mall. My cousin’s mom wanted to a take a quick peek at something in the store but did not want to deal with the hassle of a crying baby. She asked me if I could sit on the bench and watch him for a short amount of time. When i was sitting with the baby people kept starting at me and whispering about me. It was rude of those individuals to automatically assume I was a teen mom just because I was holding my baby cousin. One individual whispered “I feel sorry for that poor child”. My age lead individuals to believe I cannot raise a child by myself. There are numerous stereotypes that exist about pregnant teenagers that should not. This experience taught me that ageism in our western society today is on the rise and even more stereotypes are being developed about teenagers. I don 't think it is necessary for individuals to make such stereotypical comments to pregnant teenagers. The idea that teenagers are to young to raise a baby is very stereotypical as a number of teenagers are more mature than some full grown adults. I felt discriminated against harshly because I was holding a baby by myself. Now a days in the western society, a teenager who is pregnant is seen as careless, or uneducated. Before back in the day it was completely normal to have your first child at an even younger of sixteen. There is also this perception that all teenage pregnancies are unwanted or unplanned.
another experience ageism was involved is when I was holding my four month old cousin at a shopping mall. My cousin’s mom wanted to a take a quick peek at something in the store but did not want to deal with the hassle of a crying baby. She asked me if I could sit on the bench and watch him for a short amount of time. When i was sitting with the baby people kept starting at me and whispering about me. It was rude of those individuals to automatically assume I was a teen mom just because I was holding my baby cousin. One individual whispered “I feel sorry for that poor child”. My age lead individuals to believe I cannot raise a child by myself. There are numerous stereotypes that exist about pregnant teenagers that should not. This experience taught me that ageism in our western society today is on the rise and even more stereotypes are being developed about teenagers. I don 't think it is necessary for individuals to make such stereotypical comments to pregnant teenagers. The idea that teenagers are to young to raise a baby is very stereotypical as a number of teenagers are more mature than some full grown adults. I felt discriminated against harshly because I was holding a baby by myself. Now a days in the western society, a teenager who is pregnant is seen as careless, or uneducated. Before back in the day it was completely normal to have your first child at an even younger of sixteen. There is also this perception that all teenage pregnancies are unwanted or unplanned.