How we view ageing can change how we age ourselves Robert Carter
Last Christmas, my 4-year-old was worried that Santa might forget some presents on his list – “because Santa is old”. I was shocked. At that moment, I realised that he had already picked up negative stereotypes about older people. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised given the way they are portrayed on TV and in film, books and ads, as well as the ways that we collectively talk about ageing. But given what I now know about such views, I was deeply concerned.
Ageism is arguably the last acceptable prejudice. While other forms of discrimination are considered reprehensible, it is normalised. The World Health Organization reports that, globally, 1 in 2 people are ageist. Unfounded stereotypes about old age directly affect the lives of those in their later years – their financial opportunities and medical treatment, for example. Ageism is one of the biggest barriers faced by people everywhere, affecting all facets of life, says Nancy Morrow-Howell at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “It’s so pervasive, it’s so accepted, it’s so invisible.”
But ageism isn’t just bad for society. My concern about my son’s developing ideas of old age also stems from the discovery that negative stereotypes of older people are bad for the individual who holds them too. Researchers have found that they affect how we age, both physically and mentally, with impacts on many aspects of our later lives, from memory function and hearing loss…
