Ageism Is on Stark Display

As we have slowly started to adjust to the new rules in the wake of COVID-19, there has been an issue that has been weighing on the back of my mind. Namely, the seeming expendability of older people promoted in the political discourse, in addition to the narrow ways that they have been presented by policymakers and often in the media.

Of course, ageism is nothing new. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, ageism is the specific negative attitude or behavior directed at another because of their perceived age. Of all the groups who are targeted and marginalized, oftentimes as a culture we lose sight of the damaging effect this particular “-ism” has on its recipients.

It is no secret that we live in a youth-obsessed culture. Technology is geared towards younger users, the coveted demographic for advertisers is the 18-to-34 age range, and the images we see in advertising tilt disproportionately towards the young.

There is even evidence to suggest bias in research. For instance, international data collected regarding such wide-ranging metrics such as employment, health, assets, and reports of domestic violence abruptly stops at age 49 (Anderson, 2015). As just one example of this, Anderson (2015) identifies that although older men may be somewhat better represented in samples than their female counterparts, “older people of both sexes are often overlooked in humanitarian emergencies due to a lack of metrics” in data collection (para. 9). Similarly, in the workplace, despite diversity initiatives, few companies actually include age as part of their standards of inclusivity.

The disparity becomes even starker when breaking it down by stereotypical gender norms—in fact, the research finds that for professional women, age discrimination can happen as early as 35. The numbers suggest that “ageism hinders women’s careers at every phase starting with hiring” (as reported by Ahn & Costigan, 2019, para. 3). In a culture that reduces women’s value down to their physical appearance, ageism directed at women oftentimes happens before they even reach middle-age. Hence the cultural norms of not asking a woman her age, and the pressures for women to maintain their “youthful” appearance by coloring the grays in their hair, purchasing “age-defying” creams and cosmetics, and even practicing more extreme measures such as cosmetic or surgical procedures. This all screams at the assumption that once they are past their reproductive age, women are no longer valued in society.

Indeed, women often report experiencing a sense of invisibility as they age—cultural messages tell them they are less worthwhile as they become older, particularly when their age is more visible in their appearance. Of course, men are not immune from these effects either, and though it may take longer, there is ample evidence to suggest they too experience backlash—particularly in the workplace—as they age. Given the staggering unemployment rates in the midst of this pandemic, this has huge implications for older workers’ abilities to get hired once Americans return to their jobs.

On top of all these other challenges, in the wake of COVID-19 and continued debates regarding when to “re-open” America, rhetoric in our discourse today—even by politicians—is suggesting that our older population is disposable. I am here to say that such notions are unequivocally false and wrong—no life is disposable, and certainly the life of the older and elderly in our population should not be deemed any less valuable than the rest of us. And they don’t have to be our parents or grandparents to have value. Part of ageism also means that older individuals are reduced down to one thing—as if being a grandparent is the only meaningful aspect of an older person’s life or the sole indicator of their utility.

In fact, there is evidence to suggest creativity is enhanced as a person gets older. For instance, cases looking at the development of artistic or musical work over one’s lifetime has found that although individuals may produce lesser creative works as they age from a quantity perspective, often the quality of the work increases as they get older. In identifying specific advantages people possess as they age, classic work identified such variables as criminality lessens as people get older, political participation increases, greater participation in civic-related and voluntary positions, and despite the stereotype, enhancement in working abilities (Palmore, 1979).

All of this is to say that older people are not expendable in the age of COVID-19. I am engaging in self-isolation not only for my own safety but for the safety of other individuals in my community, which includes more vulnerable populations to this virus, such as older individuals. You don’t have to be my mother or my grandparent for me to see your intrinsic value as a human being, and I implore others to question the ways that we have been indoctrinated to disregard or marginalize individuals around us as they age.

For while the effects of ageism have always been detrimental to older people in our society, in the wake of COVID-19—unless we all band together to resist against this—ageism may in fact become deadly.

Copyright Azadeh Aalai 2020