greengrey

desertmar:

To be honest, I had to walk away because I’m trying hard not to be reactionary and give people level headed responses.  So here it is- it sucks that your feelings were hurt but this is not a real thing.  Ageism is abuse in nursing homes.  Ageism is treating the elderly like children instead of adults.  The middle aged are not systematically oppressed and throwing around that word belittles actual ageist issues.  Sorry your feelings were hurt but let’s not confuse that with oppression.

I have to disagree with some this. I thing ageism is more than just elder abuse, and it does have an effect on middle aged people. The ADEA protects workers over the age of 40, and the existence of that tells us that there is an issue there. I do agree that the middle aged aren’t systematically oppressed, especially as they’re usually the people with the most power/resources.

Employment issues aren’t my “thing”, but it’s sometimes hard for middle aged people (especially middle aged women) entering the workforce, and there is discrimination (especially in certain industries).