What Does It Really Mean to Grow Old 背景知识(background info)

1. Ageing is a process manifested by sagging skin, graying hair, loss of muscle and increasing fat, especially around the waist, faulty memory, and slower thinking and reactions. The scientists who study ageing are called gerontologists, from the Greek word for “old man”, geron. Gerontologists define ageing as follows: a continuous, universal, progressive, intrinsic, and deleterious (CUPID) process that decreases an organism's ability to maintain homeostasis in the face of environmental stressors and therefore increases the organism's likelihood of dying. For more information about ageing, please refer to http://www.antiagingny.com/what_is_aging.htm.


2. Ageism is a negative and/or stereotypic perception of ageing and aged individuals, readily apparent in such areas as language, media, and humor. This stereotypic and often negative bias against older adults is “ageism”. Ageism can be defined as “any attitude, action, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of age or any assignment of roles in society purely on the basis of age”. As an “ism”, ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. For more information, please visit http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageism.html.