Society's Newest Crime // Ageism.

Hello again!

This week’s blog takes a slightly different turn as it looks at a key concern in today’s society.

Ageism.

First things first; what is it? Ageism is a term used when an individual is discriminated or worse upon their age. It suggests that certain ages can be labelled as too old or too young for certain things such as different phrases, hobbies, actions and more. Ageism can affect a person at any age as it may sometimes segregate them from parts of society, a prime example of ageism in society today is a police officer being suspicious of a teenager, this is due to repeatedly stereotyping teenagers as being ‘up to no good’ and causing trouble.

Source: alfa.org

Another example, why don’t you see people over say 30 going to watch films such as monsters inc in cinemas when it’s being shown? Because it’s been rated a U because society believes only children will watch this and discriminates against those older from watching a cartoon.

Ageism occurs through all ages and all generations as it has become a part of society, as bad as that sounds it’s true.  Just like the teenage example used above it happens to those on the more mature side of life, just look at this ‘comedic’ photo below!

Ageism can even be used as a sign of subliminal advertising! Have you ever questioned why celebrities ages are always mentioned in an article or why journalists always comment on the ages of celebrities in relationships? It’s a way of telling an audience that this is how you should look, what you should be doing and how you should be living your life at a certain age. A personal thought of mine here is that ageism isn’t always noticeable, it can be made subtle and very hard to find in a piece of text.

However, when you really think about it you find that there are many ways in which ageism affects both our society and our media today, such as:

• ·     Young presenters on shows
• ·     More younger contestants than older on shows (E.g. I’m a celebrity, get me out of here)
• ·      Older people are respected
• ·      Younger people are often looked down upon
• ·      Older individuals aren’t publicised as much ( i.e. award shows/red carpet events.)

One shocking statement which has recently been released on the Daily Mail website was the fact that Reese Witherspoon has said that film roles slowly stop coming in as often as the ‘big’ 40 nears. How is this possible when many of the film industry’s shining stars are those of an older generation such as Judi Dench, Danny De Vito and Meryl Streep. 

These are all ways ageism affects society today but also how it has become a sewn piece in today's world, it's such a common thing it can be mistaken as a casual term with no long term affects but it can do. Is ageism spreading? Does it need to be stopped? Well, that's up to you! Let me know what you think in the comment down below and stay tuned for next weeks blog!!

Until next time!