Ageism Is the Stereotype of Discussion Chapter

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This fear may lead people to develop a negative attitude about older persons because it is rooted in fear -- fear of what will become of them someday (if they live that long). Nelson (2004, x) adheres to this way of thinking. He says, "Merely thinking about (or seeing) an older person tends to arouse anxiety about the fact that one has a short time on earth, and the fear associated with such cognitions tends to provoke the perceiver to dislike the individual (or group) who elicits such fear." While Nelson's (2004, x) theory may be easy to understand, it still does not make ageism right.

Another factor related to ageism is the way in which men and women who are aging are viewed differently. Women may hear the compliment, "You look so young," more than men because in our society it is much more important for women to look young than men. George Clooney gets gray hair and we view him as handsome, dapper, and sexy. However, give Sharon Stone (a one-time sex symbol) a few wrinkles and she is immediately cast down from the a-list status among actresses.

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There are so many inequalities when it comes to the way people perceive aging in women and the way they view it in men. Harrison Ford, well into his seventies, is still viewed as a sex symbol, but much younger actresses in their fifties are not cast as love interests like Ford, but rather as the "mother of" someone younger.

Ageism is so pervasive in our culture and this is, undoubtedly, fueled by the media, which glorifies youth and beauty (the younger, the prettier, the better). To say that someone looks so young is a sort of back-handed compliment, because one seems to be inferring that without the youthful looks, they really don't have anything else......

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