Welcome to AgeismHurts.org. Ageism Hurts was created as a forum to stimulate awareness, thought and discussion about ageism. Whether a person is five or ninety-five, there is much to be gained by combating ageism.
AgeismHurts.org was released on April 25, 2011. In the coming months, more functionality will be added to the site, such as a forums section. We will also be actively seeking contributors from the fields of academia, business, medicine, marketing and policy development. Because the site is very new and will be undergoing enhancements in the coming months, you are encouraged to subscribe to remain informed - simply click the "Subscribe" link above the "Main Menu" on the left.
One of the first challenges of fighting ageism is to get people to acknowledge that it exists at all. Although the word "ageism" was first coined by Dr. Robert Butler in 1969, many people are not even familiar with the term, much less aware that ageism operates cunningly at every level of social structure.
A simple search on Google sheds light on how poorly recognized ageism is. A 2011 search on Google for the word "racism" returned 26.1 million indexed pages related to the term. A search for "sexism" returned 3.52 million pages. "Ageism" brought back a paltry 543,000 pages that have been indexed by Google that relate to the word.
Getting Started
One of the best places to get started on Ageism Hurts is in the "Seeing Ageism" section. There you will find examples of ageism in action. As you move through the material, give yourself time to pause and reflect on your reactions. Are you brushing the information off as insignificant? Do these prejudices seem "true" to you? Does it seem as though the material isn't really offensive? Take a moment to think of yourself transported to older adulthood when these experiences can begin to happen to you. Really make the effort to put yourself in the shoes of an older adult experiencing age discrimination. Know that you, too, are likely to experience such treatment in your future... or perhaps you are already experiencing it now.
Works Cited
Butler, R. (1969). Age-ism: Another form of bigotry. The Gerontologist , 9, 243-246.
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