Ageism in America

[erpowers]

It seems to me that ageism in America is becoming a big deal. I remember a few years ago that there were only a few products on the market and on shelves that dealt with wrinkle reduction. Now there are a number of products. I was at the store the a few days ago looking for regualar facial care products, not wrinkle reducers, and all I saw was stuff that dealt with wrinkle reduction or preventig wrinkles. Just today the Today Show did a whole segment on stuff that could help reduce wrinkles and facial blemishes without going to a plastic surgeon. I am just a little not really sad, but somewhat upset with all the promotion of not getting old. I just seems that some producers of products do not want people to get old. So what do others think?

[JDPriestly]

1. Ageism is a trremendous problem.

[The2ndWheel]

2. You're going to get old

Plenty of people just don't want to look old.

[jedicord]

3. I plan on growing old gracefully.

That means naturally. Sheesh, I'm earning gray hair and wrinkles!

[tjwash]

15. You have HAIR?

Mine fell out in my mid-thirties.

When I grow a beard though, it comes in completely gray. The wife just stopped dying her hair, and I am glad, because she is absolutely beautiful with gray hair. It is actually a nice shade of silver...

[Buck Laser]

4. I thought "ageism" was discrimination AGAINST the old!

And here you seem to be complaining about all the products aimed at old people.
Personally, I'm glad I don't have a dog in this fight, since I'm only in late pre-middle age. But I guess I'll have to grow up soon, eh?

[LisaLynne]

20. I think the point would be that all of these products ...

are marketing as "fixing a problem" and that problem is that you're looking old and that, they are trying to convince you, is a very bad thing.

Welcome to DU, BTW. :hi:

[porphyrian]

5. Thank Corporate Marketing

Apparently, the trend has been a move toward selling brand rather than product, and to aim as young as possible so that growing consumers will reach adulthood with already-established brand loyalty. See the documentary "The Corporation" to really get pissed off about it. It's not personal, it's entirely accounting math. The second biggest reason for "ageist" marketing comes directly from the Baby Boomers - who are not yet ready to accept that they are as old as they are. Thus, products which hide or "reverse" the effects of aging are big money makers. Consumer culture has little to do with old people who don't spend money frivalously, and nothing to do with the thought of dying any time soon.

[Minnesota Libra]

6. I think it has more to do with "baby boomer's" reaching retirement but....

....not wanting to "grow old before their time". Baby boomer's in their 50's and early 60's are said to be "the new 30's" and that's why I think there are so many anti-wrinkle stuff on the market. Guess what? I think more is coming too.

[trof]

10. Bingo! The Aging Boomer Boom eom

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

7. The producers are just responding to an opportunity

The emphasis on physical fitness and acceptance of plastic surgery have dovetailed with the aging of the baby boomers to create an audience for products that maintain the appearance of youth. 50 is the new 40 - that is, many people look at 50 the way their parents looked at 40, thanks in large part to healthcare advances and accessibility throughout their lives.

But it isn't mere vanity that drives the desire to look forever young. The older one looks, the harder it is to maintain a successful career in many fields. With outsourcing, the crumbling of the middle class, and the dismantling of safety nets like pensions and affordable healthcare, many people are desperate to look healthy and vital enough to hold onto existing jobs or land new ones when their old ones disappear.

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. "But it isn't mere vanity that drives the desire to look forever young."

And that is where the real ageism comes in. Not yet eligible for retirement, the prospect of job hunting at your mid-fifties is terrifying if you're looking for a regular job -- above middle-management not so much, but anyone else would be competing with younger, cheaper workers who are just as capable.

It's scary.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

19. Yes, and I am a prime example of that process.

I don't color my hair or otherwise retouch my natural looks, but my resume is studded with achievements and awards. Employers are enthusiastic until they lay eyes on me. Then it's "Thanks for coming in."

So I work online instead of onsite. Many of my clients have never met me. It makes for a tenuous and anxiety-ridden existence with none of the benefits I enjoyed in middle management, but I'm lucky to have skills I can market outside of the conventional workplace.

Otherwise I would be totally up shit creek.

[johnnie]

8. This has been going on forever

And Americans aren't the only people who concern themselves with aging.

Just take this passage from Wikipdia:

"A long standing myth is that Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to present-day Florida in 1513, but the story did not start with him, nor was it unique to the New World. Tales of healing waters date to at least the time of the Alexander Romance, and were popular right up to the European Age of Exploration. The later legend derives from the "Water of Life" tale in the Eastern versions of the Alexander Romance, where Alexander and his servant cross the Land of Darkness to find the restorative spring. The servant in that story is in turn derived from Middle Eastern legends of Al-Khidr, a sage who appears also in the Qu'ran. Arabic and Aljamiado versions of the Alexander Romance were very popular in Spain during and after the period of Moorish rule, and would have been known to the explorers who journeyed to America.

Of course, there are countless indirect sources for the myth as well. Immortality is a gift frequently sought in legend, and stories of things like the philosopher's stone, universal panaceas and the elixir of life are common throughout Eurasia and elsewhere. An additional hint may have been taken from the account of the Pool of Bethesda in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus heals a man at the pool in Jerusalem."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_Youth


This is just an example.
I know that people like to say things like "What's up with blah blah blah these days?" But basically, nothing ever changes, it just goes around in circles.

[aikoaiko]

9. aging baby boomers with disposable income = marketing frenzy nt

[LibertyLover]

11. I think it's up to the individual -

While I don't plan on having plastic surgery (barring, of course, a true medical need) I see nothing wrong with looking the best I can, whether by using moisturizers that help prevent wrinkles and blemishes or hair coloring. I like not looking my age. And since I have a toddler daughter, I frankly don't want to look my age. To each person, their own choice - but as for me, I'll fight looking my age until I no longer can.

[enlightenment]

12. Gee, I thought you were going to talk about

discrimination in hiring or in the media or whatever -- not that you couldn't find skin care that didn't treat wrinkles.

I think producers of products respond to what consumers want (or think they want). Combine that with the aging of the boomers, who are perceived as having the money to spend on non-necessities, and the reason for an increase in products that "deal" with getting older becomes quite clear.

I'm one of those boomers. I don't particularly mind getting older (the creaky joints and bad eyes aside) but I don't turn my nose up at wrinkle creams - neither do I spend zillions on them, but there are a couple in my medicine cabinet. Soon enough those wrinkles will be inescapable (at which point I will become a crotchety old lady with cats who cracks young punks across the shins with my cane! Kinda looking forward to that . . .) -- but for now, I'll work at keeping them at bay.

I'm not ashamed of getting older or afraid of the prospect, but as long as I can remember my younger self when I look in the mirror, I will try to hold on a small remnant of that self.

:evilgrin:

[Sapphire Blue]

13. Beauty...

Anne Braden





Jane Goodall





Coretta Scott King





Rosa Parks





Eleanor Roosevelt





Mother Teresa

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. It's not that producers of products don't want people to get old.

It's producer of products providing service to people who don't want to get old.

It's astonishing how many boomers refuse to admit that they're not kids anymore. As a boomer myself, it bothers me a bit. In fact, that came up in conversation at my D&D game last week...

[Neil Lisst]

16. it started with Retin A, and now it's Botox.

I don't know how anyone can think a botoxed old face looks better than a regular old face. It's like seeing a really old car that's been badly handpainted, possibly with a brush instead of a spray gun.

I eschew all old fart ego related products. No dye, no skin treatments, none of that bull. And while I'm at it, if you're 50 and you've never had a harley, don't get one now. And don't get a tattoo. You're middle aged. You can't be 20 again, so don't embarrass yourself trying.

[VelmaD]

18. It works both ways...

there's plenty of discrimination against the young as well. Try being in your mid-30s and wanting to be taken seriously as an adult when you look considerably younger.

People suck and they'll find any reason they can to treat people like shit.