Age should not be the one bias that's still acceptable, and that we can't talk about fixing. Advice about how to live in an ageist world might be pragmatic, but telling people to accommodate it at all costs is practically the same as condoning it.
Age should not be the one bias that's still acceptable, and that we can't talk about fixing. Advice about how to live in an ageist world might be pragmatic, but telling people to accommodate it at all costs is practically the same as condoning it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/your-money/unemployed-and-...
I am realistic about it, though. I think it's something that we're going to have a very, very hard time dealing with. More obvious ones - like the ones you've listed - have been hard enough so far, and the struggles around them continue daily. Age? Yeah, that's going to be seriously challenging to combat. I'm all for trying to fight it, I just don't see the likelihood of good results anytime soon.
Any complete list of suggestions would include at least a few items aimed at challenging the bias. It doesn't have to be "systemic change"; it could just be calling out the behavior in a specific environment or context. Maybe that would work and maybe it wouldn't, but the same could be said of your "just fit in" suggestions. When the list is so one-sided, it implies that acceptance is the only logical course. That's wrong. It's not enough to admit that ageism exists (and then only when challenged). If you don't acknowledge the need for change then you're part of the problem.
P.S. Since you keep re-editing what I'm responding to instead of adding new responses, putting it off isn't so great either. Yeah, sure, we'll start thinking about justice some day. We have more important things to worry about this week, right?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240529702036875045766553...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8765360/Does-be...
I just don't see good ways of fixing that. (There's also "height bias", but I actually think that one might be fixable culturally.)
Edit: I know it seems defeatist, and maybe it is, but it's an area I just don't feel hopeful about.