aging and society

Society has maintained a stereotypic and often negative perception of older adults. Society is in denial of aging, we distress furniture to make it look old, but pay thousands of dollars to erase wrinkles from our faces. To be young is to be alive, sexy, and energetic. To be old is to be senile, worthless, and over the hill. These are the stereotypes bestowed on the elderly.
Commonly used phrases as set in ones ways and blind as a bat signify old age as a period of impotency and incompetence. Ageism is the term used to describe this stereotype against the elderly. Ageism is the prejudice and discrimination against the elderly. Familiar stereotypes associated with the elderly include, illness, impotency, ugliness, mental decline, and uselessness. Society associates illness with old age, as we age we become weaker and the immune system slows. Society has the belief that old people do not have sex. We think that younger a...