Chapter two was the chapter out of the chapters that we went over that really stood out to me. When I think of discrimination/stereotypes/images, I think about gender, race, ethnicity, and religion, not so much age. This chapter opened my eyes to a new problem that is on the rise in our country, a problem that needs just as much attention as other social problems in the world. The book discussed how the younger generations are in some ways afraid of the elderly. This was linked to the media and how they portray the aging population as having, “ and illness, impotency, ugliness, mental decline, poverty, and depression”, as well as, “grouch, touchy, and cranky” (Hillier, Barrow 2011, pg. 33). These stereotypes are what is causing the aging to be looked at as if the are what is shown in the media. These elderly people do not feel the way they are being portrayed, most of them still feel young and like they did when they were thirty, “I don’t feel 70. I feel about 30” (Hillier, Barrow 2011, pg. 38). Many of them do not realize how old they have gotten until they look into a mirror, “The only way I know I am getting old is to look in the mirror.”, this is the mind set for so many of the aging population but it is our society who does not accept they way they see themselves. To the rest of the population aging is wrinkles, gray hair, saggy skin, and slow movements. The only way to break these negative stereotypes is to turn aging into a positive step in life as it states in the book, as well as breaking the myths about aging. The book talks about physical myths, mental myths, and emotional myths. If we can turn these myths around, starting with children and young adults, there is a good chance that these stereotypes and discriminations could decrease drastically. 

Hillier, S., & Barrow, G. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed., pp. 3-28). California: WADSWORTH.