Adapting to Ageism

Everyone credits Robert Butler with coining the term ageism in 1969. He later expounded on this concept in his Pulitzer prize-winning book Why Survive? Being old in America in 1975. But this follows from a seminal study The Coming of Age by Simone DeBeauvoir in 1970. A detailed analyses examining the dystopian condition of older adults in modern day France. Using techniques from multiple disciplines but especially from feminist perspective of her 1949 book The Second Sex,

There was a swell of human awareness of how our industrialized world discards older people. Margaret Gullette, in her book Ending Ageism, Or How Not to Shoot Old People, suggests that credit for first articulating the construct of ageism should be attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 1862 essay Old Age.  But ageism has been around since early history.

Getting old is something to shun, and older people are shunned. This discrimination continues to this day, across all countries. No one is immune from ageism. Ageism has severe and negative consequences—health, income, work, insurance, life expectancy—least of which is the denial of older people from employment. Theoretically there was a great animated debate in gerontology on whether this is society shunning older adults or older adults themselves. Some consider it normal, adaptive and natural for older adults and society to withdraw from each other.  It is considered functional for society to transfer power and responsibility to younger persons, and for older persons to remove themselves from the workplace.  This disengagement theory, developed by Elaine Cumming and Warren Earl Henry in their 1961 book Growing Old received a severe backlash from a competing theory  by Robert J. Havighurst and later promoted by Bernice Neugarten.  This activity theory although fills an important role in promoting older adults and reducing ageism, is however idealistic. The truth is different for each individual., but that society does not have a right to prejudge you just on the basis of age.

This was also recognized much earlier by U.S. Congress before the word ageism come to the world in 1969. Although the 1964 Civil Rights Act left out age as one of the protected groups, this was remedied in the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). This act protected anyone over forty from discrimination from work practices. The ADEA is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In addition, in 1975 the Age Discrimination Act was passed which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance and enforced by the Civil Rights Center Department of Labor. Both acts are well-intentioned, but they have been watered down by the courts so as to make them ambiguous and ineffective.

The EEOC in 2017 had 84,254 new workplace discrimination charges filed. That year they resolved 99,109 charges, handled over 540,000 calls and more than 155,000 inquiries in field offices. Most of these related to retaliation: (48.8 percent) followed by Race: 28,528 (33.9 percent), Disability: 26,838 (31.9 percent), Sex: 25,605 (30.4 percent) and then Age: 18,376 (21.8 percent). National origin, religion, color equal pay and genetic information filling the rest of the complaints. For age discrimination in 2016 only two of the 86 lawsuits the agency filed were based on age discrimination. Two, out of tens of thousands charges.

Age is a difficult category to prosecute. Your employer can fire you based on your seniority, say to save money or other business practices, without being liable. The fact that all senior management are older workers is immaterial to the business decision. At interviews, employers can ask your age, although they are not supposed to use that against you. But the easiest way to implement discrimination without any recourse to litigation is simply not to respond to job applicants who seem “old.” In 2016 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that job applicants cannot sue for age discrimination because they are not employees. The Acts protect employees only. Anyone who tried to apply for a job in their fifties and sixties has experienced this strategy well. Laws are only effective if they are enforced. A 2017 AARP survey found that nearly two-thirds of workers age 55-64 report their age as a barrier to getting a job.  An earlier comprehensive study in 2015 by Patrick Button, economics professor with Tulane University using resumes for workers at various ages found significant discrimination in hiring for female applicants and the oldest applicants. You just do not receive an interview. The sad part about ageism is that it adds to other existing discriminations. Older minority populations, especially women and those with disabilities, are the most discriminated category. They are pushed to the bottom.  We have known this for more than 45 years. 

As early as 1973 Duke University professor Erdman Palmore and his student Kenneth Manton, demonstrated that it was ageism, rather than racism, that was the primary concern of older people. They argued, that although people routinely confront racism throughout their lifetime and for which they developed coping mechanisms, ageism is something that creeps up on you unexpectedly and without any recourse for defense.

Since stereotypes exist for everyone, some more prevalent and negative than others, because the experience of ageism is experienced fast and compounds other already existing stereotypes (ethnicity, gender, disability, religion and categories that makes you the “other”) it is much more difficult to counteract.

Addressing Ageism

We cannot separate ageism from age. Although theoretically these constructs are different, age is the main cause that triggers ageism (whether you look old or not). And there are two broad solutions, the traditional approach has been to try and reduce stereotypes among the general public. This will eventually seep through, like other kinds of “-isms” the world is becoming more accepting.  The second approach is to build resilience among adults before ageism starts. Both these strategies would be meaningless unless we have a strong policy support to harshly and relentlessly prosecute ageism in society. Removing the ambiguity in the 1967 and 1975 laws would be something that Congress can accomplish without much political fanfare. But as individuals we can focus on resilience.

Resilience is more like judo than boxing. In judo the energy from the other person is used to your benefit. Using their strength and momentum to propel them further along away from you. Unlike boxing, requiring pummeling into an opponent which entails fighting everyone all the time, judo is learning a few techniques that you practice. Building resilience is using stereotypes to your own advantage.

Age is a privilege and an honor. Start early to appreciate this. Nature has selected you above others. However frail and diminished you might feel there is no alternative. Embrace your life as it is now, not as it should be. That is the foundation for adapting to ageism, a good core. The rest is throwing off stereotypes, judo style.

Throwing off Stereotypes

Don’t ascribe everything negative to old age. Sometimes you are not as efficient as you used to be because you do not practice or exercise as often. It might have nothing to do with age. Separate age effects from lack of practice. You can change your behavior and increase practice, but you cannot change your age. Ascribing a deficit to age eliminates the possibility for change.

Don’t accept ageist jokes and don’t make them yourself. Acknowledge them when you hear them, you might react to them or not, but be aware when someone is trying to demean you because of age. They might be funny but they reduce you to one dimension.

Highlight something that you like about yourself and practice that and make full use of it. Music, writing, talking, comedy, whatever it is. Be exuberant and fearless in pursuing this talent to the extreme. This is your time. Dress well and present yourself. Remember that you have many ways to present a better aspect of yourself, without trying to look in your 20s or 30s. Good hygiene and clothes that present you well. Whatever your style, or comfort, be the best within your means. Being careless about yourself invites others to do the same.

You have amassed many experiences, identify the salient ones and use them. Speak up and show compassion. Don’t dwell on failures or your laurels. Stop talking about your health. Although you experience them as unnatural and an aberration, this is your reality. Move on. There is no lesson to learn, for anyone including yourself.

Be open to change. Only dead things don’t change. Celebrate your life by going out of your way to learn new things. When you come across something new, stop and learn. Failure means that you need more practice. Hopefully this strategy will protect you from dementia. Maybe not. Most of us fear this more than anything, and we fear it for our partners. Remember that most people with dementia tend to regain their well-being after a few years. It is the caregivers that suffer increasing decline in wellbeing. After eliminating all possible causes (medications, infections, behavior) there remains nothing that we can do to stop dementia.  Focus on what we still retain, music, emotional connection, a nice meal. Dementia is not a joke or laughing matter. Educate people that memory loss is not dementia. It is a spiritual exit to life Embracing ageism takes these stereotypes and addresses them head on. First our own fears, and then other’s flippant comments by addressing both the fear mongering and the glibness.

Ageism will always be around. Promoting laws to eliminate it is central to progress. We can educate ourselves to be better ambassadors for our age, now or for our future selves. We need to be the examples that break the mold. We are privileged and it is time to express it.

© USA Copyrighted 2018 Mario D. Garrett

References

Butler, R. N. (1975). Why survive? Being old in America.

Gullette, M. M. (2017). Ending Ageism, or How Not to Shoot Old People. Rutgers University Press.

Kastenbaum, R. J. (1973). Reverse ageism: a temptation. International journal of aging & human development, 4(4), 283.

Palmore, E. B., & Manton, K. (1973). Ageism compared to racism and sexism. Journal of Gerontology, 28(3), 363-369.