Society's Views Of The Aging Populace
This is not an undisclosed secret that the contemporary society is obsessed with beauty and perfection. A world in which no one ever gets sick, crops and animals grow faster and better and parents choose the physical features of their children sounds great. This perfect way of life has been made possible due to the advancements in genetic engineering. However, this technological modification has both strong and weak points. Not only it can improve our way of life in a considerable manner but it could also have overwhelming consequences beyond the control of an individual ("Imagine a Perfect World," 2011, p. NA).
The American society today has turned out to be one that maintains a stereotypic and negative perception of the elderly individuals. This kind of negativism or stereotypic view of aging and aged individuals is readily obvious and noticeable in their language, media, and humor. For instance, the common phrases such as over the hill and don't be an old fuddy-duddy crystal-clearly refer to old age as a phase of powerlessness, incapability and hopelessness. Ageism is the term that is used to describe this pigeonholed and often negative partiality against the older adults. In simple words, ageism is an approach, action, or institutional composition by which a person or group is subordinated because of age or any obligation of position in society merely on the basis of age. Thus, ageism (as an "ism"), mirrors a narrow-mindedness and unfairness in society against older adults (Woolf, 1998).
This is evident that the western society could go way beyond to maintain a youthful image. The people constantly quest to pursue beauty. More and more people are going to intense and excessive lengths from nose jobs to tummy tucks in order to attain the professed ideal and perfect look. As a society, the west was never as obsessed with image as it is today. The pursuit to pull off the perfect body appears to have reached dizzying heights "from fake tans and tooth whitening to hair transplants and facelifts" ("The Quest for Beauty," 2010, p. 10). This kind of quest is particularly popular and obvious among the members of ethnic minorities who yearn for westernizing their look ("The Quest for Beauty," 2010, p. 10). If truth be told, the quest for beauty and prevention of ageism has taken the form of a new kind of globalization "where an increasingly narrow Western beauty ideal is being exported around the world like a crude universal brand" ("The Quest for Beauty," 2010, p. 10).
This global quest of body improvement, particularly in the western side of the world, has taken the form of a new religion. There are hundreds and thousands of people in the Western society who are eager to be the members of an all-pervading culture of bodily perfection. However, those who are sensible enough and respect aging and elderly people describe such people as unfortunate victims at the mercy of superior social forces and locked into an unquenchable thirst for appreciation. Regrettably, Western society has become one that celebrates and iconize the early stages of life i.e. The youthful phase. This trend is also common in the Western society because of the continuous fuelling by the marketing campaigns and a commercially-motivated Western media that promise bodily improvement. However, in actual, it only reflects an all the time more narrow palette of gorgeousness, good looks and splendor ("The Quest for Beauty," 2010, p. 10).
To cut a long story short, a majority of people in the West go to farthest lengths in order to achieve the so-called perfection. One of the main reasons of this beauty quest is the fact that the contemporary "Caucasian beauty ideal has been packaged and exported globally, and just as surgical operations to Westernise oriental eyes have become more popular, so the beauty standard has become increasingly prescriptive" ("The Quest for Beauty;," 2010, p. 10). For instance, the utilization of skin-lightening and hair-straightening products has become common in Africa. Similarly, women in South America are now having operations that could transform them into their Barbie doll ideal. The trend of having blonde-haired models on the magazine covers has now become very common. Moreover, Anorexia is all the more common among the females. As already mentioned, westernizing one's body has been converted into a new type of globalization ("The Quest for Beauty," 2010, p. 10).
It is important to mention here that ageism is different from other "isms" like sexism and racism. Firstly, age categorization is not fixed. The age of an individual change as...
There is an increasing number of older people today, with the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1990 finding that the number of those older than 65 will probably double by 2030. Even now, twenty years later, this trend is continuing. The number of older people is growing. What I find both interesting and surprising is that ageism could still exist. I therefore think a book like this is of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now