Age Stereotypes Essay

Everyone goes through a series of changes throughout life and is subject to stereotyping and discrimination. Society today typically stereotypes individuals either by their biological clock, social clock, and or by ageism. Television shows, media, and greeting cards have become influential sources on society’s perception of people and the process of stereotyping. The messages being presented are positive and negative in nature, but target normative age-graded influences. People often categorize “old people” by their age or by a person who shows physical attributes of old age (biological clock). For example, a person who becomes frail, grey haired, wrinkled, or forgetful could be considered an elder. In our culture, a “middle aged” person is essentially evaluated by their social clock. A series of experiences and or accomplishments can usually determine whether a person is middle aged. For example, marriage, college graduation, birth of a child, and or retirement all relate to occurrences that happen within the “middle ages.” Often, the timing and or sequence of events can usually def...