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What Is Ageism and What Do We Do About It? 10 Face to Face Suggestions

Ageism, like any 'ism' comes from a place of fear, and sometimes it's our own. Let's do something about it.

Ageism is lamentably, perhaps the last socially acceptable taboo. It is still fine to belittle people for their age in a way some have around race, gender, or sexual orientation, causing them to be socially shunned? Why is this? Ageism is complex. Age is progressively changeable. I will never change my race whereas my age, and how I feel about my age, is constantly changing. 

It is also 100% personal. What I mean by that is the crux of all “isms” is the idea of the other, someone different from us, whereas with ageism it is us at a future time. Then there are the biological pulls. If we accept, as Andrew Steele does in his excellent book Ageless, that the prime driver of species is not survival of the fittest, but the survival of the most procreative, that would lend a bias toward hormone-saturated youth. There is also a certain cross-species tendency to avoid the sick. The oldest of age is often associated with disease and there may be an element of herd avoidance. Sick people can be scary. 

Then we have the huge impact of marketing, the idolization of youth, and the infantilizing effect of medicalizing any age post-youth, be it in entertainment, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, or any of a thousand subtle messages we are bombarded with in our lives all day, every day.

Ageism is within us and our awareness of our mortality

Perhaps the biggest factor in ageism is within ourselves and our awareness of our mortality. We may not enjoy being reminded that there is an end out there. However, and this is a big one, these biases are not universal in cultures, history, or even careers. You probably would not want a national leader that is 25, or an architect, or a surgeon. You want someone with experience that gives them the ability to do wide-screen pattern recognition that a younger person can’t do.

Is saying an 8-year-old is brilliant for their age an ageist comment? In a way, it is, in another way it is merely pointing out their notable exceptionalism. This is no different from noting that someone, like the former NBA player Spud Webb at 5’ 6” could dunk. It is exceptional. Here is where it gets tricky though. We don’t want to censor everything we say — that gets awfully boring. Stereotypes always have a smidgen of truth to them that then gets dangerously universalized. Some people our age are indeed grouchy, difficult, closed-minded, and not much fun. I know more than a few people in their 20s that would also fit that description. It is not that examples can’t be found, it is that these elements are then applied to everyone in the group. This is the same for any of the “isms.”

Stereotypes and Fear

What do we do? First of all, acknowledge that you and all those around you are not saints. We humans like to make systems and categories of the world around us; sometimes we get it wrong, and we especially get it wrong when we are scared. This is key. If the person you are dealing with is feeling fear, be it fear of their future self or of you, then their primitive system’s default comes into play. Boom, ageism. But give them a break, especially if they are younger. And not all ageism comes from younger people either. We in the older cohort have the same capacity to stereotype our own people. 

As Dr. Jeff Spencer has described, each decade of life has a driver and a motive. Each decade we progress to further levels, but we keep the experience and drivers of the early ages with us. Thus we can understand what motivates a younger person, and in fact still have those motivations within us, whereas the younger person has only an academic idea of what is motivating us. This gives us a great advantage. We can understand quite well anyone younger than us. But no matter how many people I talk with, I will not have personal experience of what it feels like to be 80 or 90. Sure, I could put on a heavy suit and foggy glasses, but that does not inform me about how I will see my purpose in life at that age.

Face-to-Face Solutions

Changing biological drivers may actually come via advances in medical science so, when 90 really is the new 40, we may view age dramatically differently than we do now. Who knows. Here are some simple face-to-face solutions that may work for you:

  1. Smile. In fact, smile a lot. People like to be around happy people no matter what their age. Enjoy your moment and others will want to be there with you. 
  2. Be fearless. Try new experiences constantly. 
  3. Hold your space. Don’t use age as your excuse, ever. You can learn and achieve as well as everyone else. You are not a victim and you are not mentally incapacitated.
  4. Say yes. If you are in a yes mindset, you are in a transformative mindset.
  5. Be curious about the other person. Ask all sorts of questions. Care about them.
  6. Understand that you may be scaring the others. This is particularly true in work situations. Be very careful of playing the experience card.
  7. Elevate and cheer all those around you. Focus on helping, not taking. 
  8. Just because you are of a certain age, it does not give you an expected right to “take your comfort.” That is called being lazy.
  9. Pay attention to the world around you. It is not 1970, or 80, or 90 anymore. Engage with today.
  10. Be confident that your time has not passed. In fact, you may even have a considerable runway in front of you.
See medical disclaimer below. ↓

10 COMMENTS

  1. David, I always enjoy reading your work. Thank you for talking about the fear that creates most of the kickback that people have to anything unfamiliar or unknown.

  2. Thank you from Australia for this article! I am glad to read that ageism in our age group is “a thing”. I do my best to stay away from people who do the “we can’t do this” mentality and I now have some other tools for managing that thing.

  3. Very nicely said . As a entertainment industry professional I have taken it on as a personal mission , to play my roles with vigor, grace and break the stereotypes that you mention.

    I take pride in playing roles in which I am cast in a way that purposefully demonstrate an older woman as sexy, alive, smart and cognizant who is physically highly active without a list of physical ills . That’s the other thing we can do … lead by example that we are still interested and involved in the full spectrum of life!

  4. Great article. I just started graduate school and a new position at work at the age of 62. While others have asked me when I plan to retire, I’ve looked for new challenges. Many of the employees who report to me are in their 20s and 30s. Keeping the importance of experience as well as continued personal and professional growth top of mind helps me to continue to move forward in my career.
    The suggestions of face to face solutions to counter ageism were spot on. Understanding that ageism resides within my own thoughts and actions is a helpful concept to move against it.

  5. yes!! i’ve retired from one career to go full steam ahead in another. live life in the moment with a smile on my face. i do, however, feel that at 73, i have earned the right, on occasion to play the lazy card and take the time to look around and absorb what surrounds me.

  6. David, thank you for these 10 brilliant face-to-face solutions – I live by them and I’m going to print them out. I’m also sharing them with my consciousness raising group on ageism and my GaGa Sisterhood.
    I fully embrace my age and title of “grandma!” It’s the most fun and creative time in my life and it started in 2003 when I witnessed the birth of my first grandchild and went completely “gaga.” I recently took that grandchild to the college campus where she’ll be attending this fall to have the first look.
    I surround myself with people of all ages and some of the most fun are grandmas! In fact, I started a social network for grandmas in 2003 called the GaGa Sisterhood (https://www.gagasisterhood.com/) and we’ve been sharing our joys and challenges with each other for 18 years. My mission is to inspire grandmas to continue growing and learning just like you advise in your 10 solutions. So bring on the years … I’ve got a lot of living to do 🙂

  7. I loved this article. So right with the ‘experience’ and engage with now observations. I have worked with and observed people who say ‘we did it that way 17 years ago’ and wonder why people stop looking to them for assistance. I have also been around many people who don’t want to admit to their age but are clearly at least over 50. It’s okay to be older but not okay (regardless of age) to be wilfully ignorant, lazy, constantly moody grumpy etc. I changed jobs at 50 – am now 55 and in my current position work with students on placement who are in their early 20’s. I don’t want to be like them (nor they me) but I learn from them and am open to what they have to say. And when needed I can support them with my knowledge and experiences in a constructive way. Being open to opportunity at every age is a wonderful thing. The opportunities change and that’s okay because I don’t want for myself now what I wanted at 20/30 and even 50.

  8. Great article and concluding points! Kate raises the issue of people not wanting to admit to their age. Well often I do not do so unless I’m asked outright because it shouldn’t matter!! I have many times literally experienced an immediate change in attitude right there and then when I do say how old I am. Sad but true.

  9. I never admit my age no matter who asks, unless I could get arrested as a result. It’s genetic as my Mother never did either in fact I think she had two driver’s licenses or birth certificates! At 90 we threw her a party so the cat was out of the bag. I never say, that’s just the way I roll. So, please don’t ask.

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The ideas expressed here are solely the opinions of the author and are not researched or verified by AGEIST LLC, or anyone associated with AGEIST LLC. This material should not be construed as medical advice or recommendation, it is for informational use only. We encourage all readers to discuss with your qualified practitioners the relevance of the application of any of these ideas to your life. The recommendations contained herein are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. You should always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before starting any new treatment or stopping any treatment that has been prescribed for you by your physician or other qualified health provider. Please call your doctor or 911 immediately if you think you may have a medical or psychiatric emergency.

David Stewart
David is the founder and face of AGEIST. He is an expert on, and a passionate champion of the emerging global over-50 lifestyle. A dynamic speaker, he is available for panels, keynotes and informational talks at david@agei.st.

 

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