Everywhere I turn I am told I am not good enough. I am not educated enough, not tall enough, not thin enough or I’m too old. Out of all those areas that I “fall short” the one that is considered acceptable is that I’m too old. Unfortunately in the United States being considered too old is an accepted bias. It is a form of discrimination that is ususally overlooked.
According to merriam-webster.com ageism is, “prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly”, but what does that mean to you and me?
Even though people have discriminated against older people for as long I can remember, it still surprises me, because it will impact everyone eventually. Maybe not today, but at some point you will be the “older” person at work, on the field or even at school. So, why do people think it’s okay to consider older people somehow less than young people? Why do we embrace youth over maturity?
Why? Because America is youth obsessed! The media and its glorification of “new is the best’. Mass media has become so prevalent in our lives that it skews our perceptions of our world. The media often undervalues old people, depicts them in a negative light and unjustly stereotypes them.
Movies and TV shows typically cast younger women for leading roles. Magazines feature young models on the covers and when they don’t it is a big deal. Male role models aren’t much better, the leading men today must be youthful and fit. Sports are no different, at 44 years old Tom Brady, said to be one of the greatest athletes of all time…was considered old.
Ageism in the workplace
The entertainment industry isn’t the only industry that tends to be youth-oriented. Most companies seem to prefer youth as well, saying they honor attributes like independence, individualism, and not always valuing the more traditional values and norms of previous generations.
Many companies are looking for long term employees and tend to prefer to hire younger employees and hope they will grow into the people they want as a part of their workforce. However, the reality is people change jobs approximately 12 times over the course of their careers, meaning they change jobs approximately every 4.1 years.
According to bls.gov age actually plays a large role in tenure, statistically speaking the older the employee is the longer they will stay with their employer.
Workers aged 55-64 stayed at the same job an average of 9.9 years, whereas 25-34 year olds’ median time with an employer was 2.8 years.
When the pandemic hit and people had to work at home for many of them there was a learning curve to get up and running and get into a routine. But a 2020 Pew Research study shows that 42% of workers under 50 and under said it was very or somewhat difficult to be motivated to get their work done. Whereas only 20% of workers 50 and over said it was very or somewhat difficult to be motivated to get their work done. Also, 38% of those under 50 reported they were able to get their work done without interruptions in comparison 18% of workers over 50 saying interruptions were a problem
Age is only a number, old is a state of mind.
As a country what are we going to do about it? First we should stop telling ourselves we can’t do something because we are too old. Your age is only a number, old is a state of mind. Secondly, teach ourselves not to accept it and work towards changing perceptions that older is not “old”. Age is indeed a number, but old is a state of mind. We need to get out there and show people that older people should be valued.
I for one am not going to accept the moniker of old. If someone says “You are too old”, prove them wrong.