“There are six myths about old age: that it’s a disease, a disaster; that we are mindless; that we are sexless; that we are useless; that we are powerless; and that we are all alike.” ~ Maggie Kuhn, Founder of the Gray Panthers
October 7th is Ageism Awareness Day and is an opportunity to draw attention to the existence and impact of ageism in our society and how we can reframe aging in our communities.
In 1970 Maggie Kuhn was forced to retire from a job she loved in the Presbyterian Church, at the then mandatory retirement age of sixty-five. Instead of passively accepting retirement, Kuhn decided to band together with other people who were also forced to retire and formed The Gray Panthers, an action group dedicated to taking on ageism.
The lack of accepting the status quo would not just form the organization, but also inspired the Gray Panther name–“It’s a fun name. There’s a certain militancy, rather than just a docile acceptance of the status quo,” Maggie said.
Today, the Gray Panthers are a series of multi-generational local advocacy networks in the United States which confront ageism. While their work began in 1960, there’s still much work to be done.
The United Nations has declared ageism a global challenge, saying in a 2021 report, “Ageism leads to poorer health, social isolation, earlier deaths and cost economies billions.” The report called for swift action to implement effective anti-ageism strategies.
Ageism is defined by the World Health Organization as “the stereotypes (how we think), prejudices (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age.”
It is widely known that any kind of prejudice or discrimination based on stereotypes can be harmful not just to the person experiencing the prejudice, but also to the person doing the stereotyping. And ageism is not just a problem for older adults; people of other age groups can be the target of this prejudice at various times in their lives.
In a 2005 article in the Journal of Social Issues Todd Nelson said, “Ageism is prejudice against our future self.” Can that be healthy? No. Ageism can shorten your lifespan by more than seven years according to a study by Dr. Becca Levy, a leading authority on how beliefs about aging influence aging health.
Levy, Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, says “Individuals with a more positive self-perception of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions. This advantage exists even after age, gender, socioeconomic status, loneliness, and functional health were considered.” Furthermore, people with a more positive self-perception about aging experienced better overall health the study revealed.
Ageism is hurtful, insulting, and a danger to our health. Even well-intentioned “compliments” or comments—such as saying, “you don’t look your age!” or calling any older adult “honey” or “sweetie” promotes a demeaning and infantilizing view of older persons.
On Ageism Awareness Day, let’s take a moment to consider how we treat older adults and how we want to be treated as we age.
To learn more about ageism and engage in a dialog with about how our community can become more age friendly, consider attending the “Let’s Talk About Ageism” event at the Campus for Creative Aging on October 31 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Amy Nichols, Campus Coordinator says, “We invite the community to join us as we begin to discuss ageism, the third most common type of discrimination behind sexism and racism. In this one-hour session we will learn what is ageism, how to identify it, who it impacts, and several ways to begin to address the problem.” To learn more or to register for the event, contact Amy at 269-982-7748 or by email at amynichols@areaagencyonaging.org.
Christine Vanlandingham is CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-654-2810 or visit areaagencyonaging. org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.