patterns & trends

• Moore


  Dressed up as an old person to find out what it would be like to be perceived as being old.Her findings were that assumptions were made about her perceived age, eg. that she was deaf & would be easily confused.One conclusion was that 'perhaps the worst thing about ageing may be the overwhelming sense that everything around you is letting you know that you are not terribly important any more'.Shows that old people are disadvantaged not necessarily by their physical old age but by other people's stereotypical assumptions based on their appearance of being old.
• Johnson & Bytheway


  Defined ageism as the offensive exercise of power through reference to age.This can be institutionalised, through organisational & legal practices, or based on stereotypical prejudice or even through well-meaning assumptions.