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Old Age and Ageism, Impairment and Ableism: Exploring the Conceptual and Material Connections
- NWSA Journal
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2006
- pp. 126-137
- Article
- Additional Information
Much can be learned about (old) age-identity and age-related oppression by noting their similarities to, respectively, impairment and ableism. Drawing upon the work of Shelley Tremain, I show that old age, like impairment, is not a biological given but is socially constructed, both conceptually and materially. I also describe the striking similarities and connections between ableism and ageism as systems of oppression. That disability and aging both rest upon a biological given is a fiction that functions to excuse and perpetuate the very social mechanisms that perpetuate ableist and ageist oppression.