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_aging _
By: Bets Billerman
Throughout the semester we have tried to understand individual choice and
individual experiences in the context of social forces and constraints, and
the patterning of experience by location in the social structure. Present your
understanding of this very sociological perspective. Use examples and readings
to support your position. Illustrate your points by referring to a specific
phenomenon. Many times when asked about aging, people will respond with the
statement, "Aging is what you make of it." This statement places the
responsibility to cope in society on the individual. Through careful analysis
of the sociological perspective, this can be understood to be another blame
the victim situation. Social forces are incredibly strong. They influence
every one of our lives on a daily basis. Some may argue they create who we are
today and who we will become tomorrow. Most importantly they place restraints
on the possibilities for the individual, especially the aging individual. The
statement, "Aging is what you make of it" is false because society constructs
the aging experience. Everything is socially constructed through a process of
society. From the time we are born be are socialized to know how society
works. In America we have been socialized to go to the bathroom in a certain
orderly manner, with social rules such as washing your hands afterwards, being
very important. In other cultures this same procedure may be completely
different because they are socialized to follow a different procedure. One
procedure may not be better than the other may, but because society has
decided to follow the procedure it is part of the socialization process when
we are children. Just as we are socialized to go to the bathroom, we are
socialized to believe certain things about aging. "If different cultures at
different times, value older people in different ways, it indicates that our
stereotypes are socially rather than biologically." (Scrutton) A stereotype is
a categorization based on one characteristic, with an evaluative component to
that categorization that usually sets the notion of 'other.' There are many
stereotypes about aging, including old people are all poor, frail, and require
assistance. These ageist stereotypes are socially constructed for a number of
reasons the major one being to maintain the status quo. There are many
consequences of ageist stereotypes including outright disdain and dislike,
subtle avoidance of contact, discrimination in employment and housing, and the
creation of a fear of growing older. Even the youngest children demonstrate
ageist beliefs about older people. These children's parents do not
deliberately sit down and teach them these stereotypes. They learn them from
all of society just as their parents learned them. This social construction of
aging goes deep into society. It is in public policy, media, and just about
every other major social institution. These factors can have tremendous
influence on older adults and the aging experience. Since very part of society
reinforces beliefs about what the aging experience is and should be, older
adults do not have many individual choices to make the most out of aging.
Society creates dependency of the older people through social institutions and
programs. "This "burden of dependency" has been manufactured by public
policies designed to reconstitute the labor force and redistribute the burden
of unemployment largely through the growth in retirement." (Hardy) An example
of this is retirement. Once a person reaches a certain age at a company,
society expects them to retire. Society all along has created the illusion of
retirement as a wonderful time in a person's life when they have worked hard
all their life and can now stop and relax. This illusion can be devastating
because not only would everyone think you were ridiculous for not wanted to
retire, but they would think you were being greedy not allowing jobs to open
up for younger workers. This social pressure usually forces people to retire
and therefore lose their earning potential. In our society income is greatly
valued. Those not making income are seen as dependent. Retirement really helps
the people in power. By having people of a certain age retire companies can
cut costs, and at the same time have a pool of non-employed people to be used
as a weapon to control the employed people. "The attitudes which dominate any
society usually reflect the interests of the mot powerful and influential
social groups." (Scrutton) Therefore when a person turns a certain age they
are socially pressured into being dependent for their very survival. This is
just one example of a social institution that makes it impossible to make the
most out of aging. Older people do not have the power to choose to make the
most out of aging. Their aging experience is shaped by society through
structural dependency, ageism, and all aspects of society. The statement
"aging is what you make of it" is an example of a blame the victim attitude
about aging. In the 'blame the victim' attitude people blame the victim for
their situation, they see it then in the power of the individual to find the
solution to the problem. The better attitude would be a 'blame the system
approach" to problems. This approach says that society is the source of the
problem and the solution. People must be conscious of their social
imagination, so that they are able to analyze their place in society. As
shown, aging is not what you make of it. An individuals aging experience is
constructed by society. In order to make the most out of aging, society will
have to fix problems such as ageism, structured dependency, and many others.
Word Count: 928
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