Age stereotypes are developed and instilled from a very young age, just like racist biases:
Whether battling "old geezer" stereotypes or trying to obtain equal standing in the workplace, those who are 60 or older may all too often find themselves the victims of ageism.
In fact, in a survey of 84 people ages 60 and older, nearly 80 percent of respondents reported experiencing ageism--such as other people assuming they had memory or physical impairments due to their age. The 2001 survey by Duke University's Erdman Palmore, PhD, also revealed that the most frequent type of ageism--reported by 58 percent of respondents--was being told a joke that pokes fun at older people. Thirty-one percent reported being ignored or not taken seriously because of their age. The study appeared in The Gerontologist (Vol. 41, No. 5).
Want an easy way to find out if you're an AGE-IST bigot? Just insert the word BLACK, or GAY, or JEW, or any other discriminatory term for the world OLD in a video like this. Ha, ha, funny, funny, this is sooo funny, right? Or maybe not. Try it ... make it, "yo ... Obama he's so BLACK ... or Lieberman, yo' he's so JEWY ... or Harvey Milk, yo' he's so GAY ...
P.S. I've been campaigning for Obama since before he even entered the race for President, so you can chill on that trip, too, yo. I don't want McCain to be President, but using AGEISM is wrong, period. "But, but, he might *die* in office," you may say. Yes, he may, and Obama may get shot, or run over by a bus. The prospect of dying faces every leader, it has nothing to do with ability to do a job. Moreover, people much younger than McCain, in their 60s, 50s, 40s, even 30s are skipped over for jobs every day for NO OTHER REAL REASON than AGE. It's wrong, and it's ILLEGAL.
