The word ‘age discrimination’ attracted me when I searched for information online. Age discrimination(ageism) refers to a view that the elderly are physically or socially weak, and therefore discriminate against the elderly, which originates from the stereotype of the elderly. Age discrimination can be accidental or systematic.
Studies have shown that age discrimination is even more common than gender discrimination and racial discrimination, which has a serious impact on the elderly and the whole society. For example, age discrimination limits the way in which questions are raised and conceptualized, thus becoming a major obstacle to the formulation of good policies. The situation is extremely severe on the workplace.Older workers can have trouble getting promoted or finding new jobs.
I actually found the bias of ages wasn’t a simple question in China. Chinese people are ageist. Why is there age discrimination? All stereotypes come from the ‘other’. However, what those discriminating people don’t know is that there is a very strange thing: people will eventually become others. In addition, if you don’t get married and have no children at the age of 30, if you can’t take the public institution or civil service examination at the age of 35 and if you don’t enter the management level after the age of 40, others will treat you like the ‘other’. The 55-year-old dislike the 25-year-old for ‘not being able to handle things properly’, while the 25-year-old reversely discriminated against the 55-year-old for their conservation. The experience difference of each age group is also very big and the generation gap is, either.
In the United States, one in five workers is over the age of 55. According to the statistics of the American Association of Retired People, nearly 65% of workers say they have experienced age discrimination, of which 58% believe that once they reach the age of 50, they will experience all kinds of discrimination.
When it comes to legislation prohibiting age discrimination, there is a precedent in the international community. Age discrimination in recruitment was prohibited in the United States in 1967. The employment law of Russia expressly prohibits the age limit listed by employers in recruitment notices. The United Kingdom even prohibits words implied by age.
I used to ‘age discriminated’ the security guards and the janitors in my high school when I was still in adolescence. However, I changed my attitude later. Chatting with them in the Shanghai dialect, which is my home language, makes me feel familiar. Meanwhile, I’ve also discovered some interesting sides of them. It wasn’t just the security guards; sometimes I also heard the janitors chatting with each other about their children who are in the throws of the teenage rebellion period that we’ve all been through. I realized that the students and the security guards and janitors still will had many things in common.
It is not appropriate to be in the habit of demanding others according to their own standards. Every era has its own characteristics, and it is impossible to do things in accordance with the previous model.Gaps between each other must be eliminated.
References:
https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/age-discrimination
I have never thought about age discrimination before but this post has really opened my eyes to it. I have never realized before but I definitely have been age discriminating before in my life and that will end thanks to this post. It is really crazy how much this happens with out even realizing.