Gender, Ethnicity and Socio-economic Factors - Essay Example

 Background Growing old is an inevitable fact of life. Most people dread it due to a host of reasons which include fears of losing their valued youthful looks, physical strength, good health, vigor and alertness of their thinking. Others fear the reduction or loss of quality of care and affection they presently enjoy with the significant people in their lives What can make this stage worse is ageism. Butler, the one who coined the term ‘ageism’ originally defined it as the "systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this with skin color and gender." (1969, p.243). Ageism is prevalent in society. Some people are not even aware that they harbour this prejudice when they marvel at some people who are advanced in their age but can still do things not expected of them. This is because their expectations of old people correspond with the majority’s perception that they are “senile, sad, lonely, poor, sexless, ill, dependent, demented, and disabled” (McGuire, Klein & Cheng, 2008, p. 11). These negative labels create self-fulfilling prophecies in most old people (Harris, 2005). Another important theme to analyze with the elderly is gender, ethnicity and socio-economic factors. Older women are more vulnerable to criticism. Years earlier, may already have suffered from gender inequality, especially in the workplace where men seem to be the more favoured worker, even gaining more speed up the corporate ladder than their female counterparts. Many critics claim, that in exerting all their efforts to advance themselves in the professional sphere, women become unable to perform successfully as mothers, wives and life partners. However, the latter are among primary duties of all women. The issue of equal rights and family priority indicate that without neglecting their basic duties to family, women can still get an education, which is equal to the education of men. There appears to be a constant conflict between mutually beneficial relationships and contemporary situations, where males dominate the social, political and professional spheres (Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, & Grunewald, 2000). . Many women claim that they have fewer opportunities to succeed in their work than men do and have to exert greater effort in order to be promoted in their jobs. Men are more readily employed and more supported by their employers than women (Bergman, 2003). With regards to deteriorating personal appearance older women, ageism glorifies youthful beauty and activity. Cosmetic science has been a panacea to those searching for the fountain of youth. It is now socially acceptable (and has even become a status symbol) to have a variety of procedures done to enhance or alter one’s looks. This insecurity of losing one’s youthful appearance has made millionaires out of cosmetic practitioners. Likewise, the growing popularity of gym memberships, hiring of physical trainers, engagement in an increasing variety of sports all point to society’s emphasis on health, fitness and youthfulness. Advancement in age should entail more attention to one’s appearance and activity so successful aging occurs (Rowe & Kahn, 1998; Katz, 2000). Ethnicity and socio-economic factors likewise affect how the elderly are treated. As it is, their advanced age already makes them marginalized, how much more if they come from a different culture or are not well-off? Rationale Erikson’s (1963) stages of psychosocial development labels the last stage as Integrity vs. Despair and Disgust. Late adulthood is a time when ego integrity over one’s lifetime is evaluated. If one looks back at the life he has lived with few regrets, then ego integrity is achieved. On the other hand, failure to achieve ego integrity leads to feelings of despair, hopelessness, guilt, resentment and self-rejection (Erikson, 1963). Sadly, many older adults fall into the latter category of “despair and disgust” and may cause them anxiety and depression. The fact that for most of them life is almost at its end and there is little chance and time to make up for their mistakes in the past leaves them with much regret and hopelessness for the future. Ageism Calasanti (2005) discusses two convergent themes regarding bodies’ influence on ageism and the status of old people. One is that health and goodness are equated with each other. When one is healthy, he is believed to be in control. On the other hand, when one is unhealthy, it implies that he has failed to control himself, and ought to change his lifestyle or diet to get back to health. The other theme equates old age with disease and decline. When old age is thought of as pathological, then the stigma is that the individual may have been negligent to hold back the hands of time in terms of health and body maintenance. This is reflected in the following statement: "Old age is a disease, the symptoms of which are sagging, wrinkling, and graying—all of which are symbols of a lack of control, which is unacceptable in contemporary society" (Jones and Pugh, 2005, p.254). Gender, Ethnicity and Socio-economic Factors Changes in the socio-political structure, in turn, affect characteristics of the older population and civic engagement initiatives (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2008). For instance, the growing availability of secondary and higher learning, health promotion programs and retirement planning offers hope that in the future, older people will be better educated, more secure economically, healthier and more engaged socially than the present generation of the elderly. Health Promotion The aims should be presented last and this is a summary of your intentions. Methods This research interviewed two people in their elderly stage. What have you done? How did you develop your questions? Who was involved? Give us some background and description of participants (do not break anonymity) Ethics- important to emphasis ethical considerations Analysis Analysis can be done alone or combine with your discussion. You should make sure you illustrate your ideas with quotations but avoid overly long quotes. Try to organise this into broad themes which link to your topics. Important to compare and contrast what interviewees say. What do they say that is similar? What do they say that is different? Discussion The discussion part should link what you found to the literature showing similarities and differences. You can do this alongside your analyses so you may illustrate a key point and then link it to a particular study or finding It is useful to summarise the key findings from your interviews. If you have space then highlight any strengths or weaknesses of the work you have done. Always write in the 3rd person. Finally remember to include a conclusion and summary of your key findings. This may be an opportunity for your to talk about the implications of what you found and what was said. References Butler R. (1969) Age-ism: another form of bigotry. Gerontologist; 9: 243–246. Calasanti, T. (2005) Ageism, Gravity, and Gender: Experiences of Aging Bodies, Generations, Fall 2005 Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). New York: Norton. McGuire, S.L., Klein, D.A. & Chen, S. (2008) Ageism revisited: A study measuring ageism in East Tennessee, USA, Nursing and Health Sciences 10, 11–16 Read More