Misconceptions Of Ageism

There are many misconceptions about old age today, especially with the growing of technology. One of the misconceptions are that you will not be able to learn or retain new information. Basically, the emphasis is that old people’s brain deteriorates. Another big misconceptions is that your sex drive will become too low or that you will not be physically able to have sex anymore, as you become old. Other misconceptions are that with old age comes unhappiness in your life and you can not enjoy the same things you once did. Moreover, there are many misconceptions about what happens to one’s health as you age. For example, people think that as you age, you become weak and fragile and need around the clock care. I do not believe these misconceptions myself, in part because I have not had these experiences with people that are aging. I come from a small town in Mexico, where everyone, including my grandparents are farmers and work well into their 80’s. I think that being culturally aware of aging populations in other countries has made me more aware, of the actual realities and capacities that we will experience as we age.
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One of the common sources of ageism is in the workplace, where the aging population is commonly mistreated. As the younger populations are entering the workforce, we must also consider how we are unequally mistreating the aging population. For example, we see that employers are devaluing the aging population of workers. Other common sources of ageism are very likely to occur at home, with their children and grandchildren, school, and in senior living facilities. Some several examples of ageism in my environment are my own college classes, where I have seen students place no value on their input. Furthermore, I also have seen ageism in my workplace at the gym. I have seen my employees look down on older people that attend the gym and treat them like they are