Although the mention of aging and old age all too often conjures notions of rigidity, decline, and invisibility, the very act of acting, of taking on a new role, can challenge and expand popular conceptions of later life. The first study of its kind, The Stages of Age looks at the aging actor and at aging as acting in a wide array of American performances that interrupt, transform, and underscore stereotypes of old age. Anne Davis Basting argues that advancing age is an essential category that should not be overlooked in discussions of identity and difference.
Subject Term: Ageism & Advocacy
AARP’s BACK TO WORK 50+ Program
From the AARP Site:
50+ jobseekers need help gaining skills, finding jobs and building financial security. One promising approach is to encourage existing community intermediaries — like community colleges and workforce investment boards — to put new emphasis on helping 50+ workers find new and better jobs. The AARP Foundation’s BACK TO WORK 50+ program is supporting over 20 sites across the country as they build programs and services targeting 50+ workers. BACK TO WORK 50+ connects 50+ workers with information, training, support, work experience, and employer access they need to get back into the workforce and sustain their income through employment. Early results suggest that this approach may bear fruit, as thousands of 50+ job seekers have called the AARP Foundation’s national toll-free hotline just in 2014.
Ageism in America
From the Introduction to this study from The Anti-Ageism Taskforce at The International Longevity Center:
“…it must be noted that the status of older persons and our attitudes toward them are not only rooted in historic and economic circumstances. They also derive from deeply held human concerns and fears about the vulnerability inherent in the later years of life. Such feelings can translate into contempt and neglect.”
Age-Friendly New York City
From the Age-Friendly NYC Site:
Started as a public-private partnership in 2007, NYAM’s Age-friendly NYC initiative has catalyzed hundreds of changes throughout the city. We have successfully created Age-friendly Neighborhoods, increased pedestrian safety, showed thousands of businesses how to become age-friendly, and improved transportation and access to recreational and cultural resources for the city’s older adults. Age-friendly NYC was awarded “Best Existing Age-Friendly Initiative in the World” by the International Federation on Aging in 2013 and has provided strategic assistance to more than 70 cities worldwide.
Creative Aging Experts Address Ageism at Grantmakers in the Arts Conference
In October 2019, the National Guild for Community Arts Education presented the professional development workshop, “Age Equity: The Impact of Ageism on Arts Funding and Programs,” at the 2019 Grantmakers in the Arts Conference: Cultural Intersections in Denver, CO. This workshop featured moderator, Adam Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at National Guild for Community Arts Education, Annie Montgomery, Director of Education at Lifetime Arts, Eliza Kiser, Director at Pullen Arts Center, and Teresa Bonner, Executive Director at Aroha Philanthropies. This highly interactive workshop addressed, “the last socially acceptable prejudice,” ageism and how it is preventing full access to arts learning and engagement for upwards of twenty percent of the U.S. population.
Cruel Jokes About the Old are Everywhere. When Will We Face Our Ageism Epidemic?
Author, Francine Prose, discusses the ageist epidemic around the globe and describes how media and culture has influenced society to carry prejudice views against a process that every human faces: aging.
Older People Are Ignored and Distorted in Ageist Marketing, Report Finds
From The New York Times: “Older consumers, who hold trillions of dollars in spending power and make up a growing portion of the global population, would seem to be a prime target for advertisers.Instead, the demographic is shunned and caricatured in marketing images, perpetuating unrealistic stereotypes and contributing to age discrimination, according to a new report.
Age against the machine: the secret of a long life
A review of writer Carl Honore’s new book Bolder: Making the Most of Our Longer Lives. Honore profiles active, independent, achieving older adults throughout the world, leading him to a re-assessment of his own understanding of aging.
Ted Radio Hour: Bias and Perception
How does bias distort our thinking, our listening, our beliefs… and even our search results? How can we fight it? This hour, TED speakers explore ideas about the unconscious biases that shape us.
Positive Aging: 10 Positive Solutions to an Age Old Problem
There are many examples of xxx “solutions” or “steps” to positive aging; this one, somewhere between academic and general, seems one of the better frameworks.