Ageism.

[Elision]

Ageism, also called age discrimination, is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice and discrimination. This may be casual or systematic. The term was coined in 1969 by US gerontologist Robert N. Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defined ageism as a combination of three connected elements. Among them were prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the aging process; discriminatory practices against older people; and institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about older people The term has also been used to describe prejudice and discrimination against adolescence and children, including ignoring their ideas because they are too young, or assuming that they should behave in certain ways because of their age.

Ageism commonly refers to positive discriminatory practices, regardless of the age towards which it is applied. There are several subsidiary forms of ageism. Adultism is a predisposition towards adults, which is seen as biased against children, youth, and all young people who are not addressed or viewed as adults. Jeunism is the discrimination against older people in favor of younger ones. This includes political candidacies, commercial functions, and cultural settings where the supposed greater vitality and/or physical beauty of youth is more appreciated than the supposed greater moral and/or intellectual rigor of adulthood. Adultcentricism is the "exaggerated egocentrism of adults."Adultocracy is the social convention which defines "maturity" and "immaturity," placing adults in a dominant position over young people, both theoretically and practically. Gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. Chronocentrism is primarily the belief that a certain state of humanity is superior to all previous and/or future times.

Ageism may also lead to the development of fears towards certain age groups, particularly: Pedophobia, the fear of infants and children; Ephebiphobia, the fear of youth, sometimes also referred as an irrational fear of adolescents or a prejudice against teenagers; and Gerontophobia, the fear of elderly people.


Discuss.

[Sophie]

Did you copy all that off wikipedia?

But yeah, what is there to discuss? I see no questions.

[Elision]

Opinions.

Where do you think ageism is necessary? Do you think it is necessary at all?


Personally, I don't think ANYTHING should be based on one's amount of trips around the sun. Now, I could just have this view because I'm young, and my opinions might change when I'm an 80 year old man.

What do you guys think?

[Emadyville]

Ageism to me should be allowed when hiring, and in society ageism or whatever is necessary, not because it has to be done but because it'll always be done. it's natural to think that way about people, and that's why i don't see a problem in doing so.

[Elision]

i don't see a problem in doing so.

So you think that everybody should be put in catagories because of their ages?

You can't drive until you're 16, can't legally have sex until 18 (17 in some states), can't drink until 21...

These ages are set because people below these ages generally cannot handle such responsibilities. While those who are certainly intellectually above their age have to be chained back by these standards.


Now, what if there was a test you could take? At any age you want, and if you pass, you can get some sort of card to carry around so that you can legally do certain things such as those stated above.

Would you vote for something like that?