The Social Construction of Aging

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Influence of aging by ethnicity
Class and aging
Gender and aging
Political influence on aging
The economic environment on the aging
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Aging is a life process that makes a person old. The aging process is associated with memory loss, skin wrinkles, weak muscles, and also trouble balancing. Aging is said to be a result of normal biological body changes. Aging can also be a result of some of the impacts people do on their body for instance long exposure to the sun will cause sunburns and skin wrinkles.

Aging has a different impact on our bodies. Firstly, there cellular aging is the wearing out of the body cells. The cells are damaged through radicals and other variables. Hormonal aging is a result of the hormone change in the body that is associated with each life stage like childhood, teenage, and old age. As a person moves from one stage to another, the level and the function of hormones also change. Accumulated damages caused by body toxins, radiation rays, unhealthy eating and environmental pollution cause our body tissues to wear out causing aging. Lastly, metabolic aging comes along during the process of metabolism. Some of the energy realized during the process causes damage to our bodies over some time. Scientists believe that slowing down the metabolic process through some method like calorie control may prevent early aging (Stibich, 2009).

The social construction of age states that aging occurs not because the mind and the bodies want to wear out, but because people explain in their mind and physical stages that the body changes are the aging symptoms. Aging is influenced by social factors in two ways. Firstly, is cognitive age, which is the thought of a person of how old he/she thinks is. Secondly, is the chronological age, which is a persons actual or real age. According to studies, aging people are now considering themselves as younger and they are using some of the ant-aging products that make them look young than they possibly are (Stibich, 2009).

Influence of aging by ethnicity

Ethnicity is in the current times is defined as the means of dealings between diverse cultural groups and the strategic positions of control within the social structure. Ethnicity emphasizes more on the society standard of behavior, social ties, memories of a common historic event, cultural heritage, tribal affiliation, and the social language.

Ethnicity has been seen to influence the process of aging. According to some of the ethnicity theories, ethnicity development, its survival in the society, the crystallization of solidarity, and its recognition are supported by the social structure. The values, motives social and psychological status given to certain members of the society for example the elders affect their aging process. In this elders social status, there is existence of rich status, structural positions and social beliefs. The society stress variables and personal resources influence the ethnic elders to have a quality life that also positively manipulate their health status. Therefore, the ethnic elders good health slows the aging process and makes the elders live long before they look old (Cruikshank 2003, p. 159).

Some ethnic groups have different life practices that expose them to poor health. For instance, the type of food eaten, the cultural practices and the exposure to the environmental toxins influence the society to high morbidity and mortality. For example, the majority of black people in Africa are said to be poor which makes them eat poorly and have poor health behaviors. The Japanese people are said to have high life expectancy and low aging rate because of the healthy food they take.

Value and behaviors from a certain ethnic group, adapted by an individual in his or her early development stages are important later to the aging issues of the person. The person will to some point want to go back to the ethnic values when having some physical and duty changes. The determination to apply the early learned values in the aging life is to create a life continuation.

Class and aging

A person, social status is important in the determination of how long one lives. Social-economic status of a person is said to shorten the life expectancy of that person. Social status is said to create an influence on health. Low social status is said to be the cause of the increased risk of diseases, infant mortality and lifespan of individuals. According to research conducted, the aging process can be accelerated by the social status for seven years. Scientists believe that stress that a person may have because of lack of money or good social class can be blamed for aging.

According to scientists, telomeres are said to have an impact on a persons biological aging. The length of Telomeres in the DNA chromosomes is said to cause social class aging. The telomeres are said to belong and as individual ages, the length of the telomeres decreases. The telomeres function of protecting chromosomes from damage, decreases making the chromosomes to be in danger of damage. The stress associated with the strain of a person being in a poorly paid job, the low effort paying situations, the low self-esteem and the increased depression an individual has for not having a good social class, makes the telomere length reduce, therefore, accelerating aging process.

Gender and aging

Gender makes people think differently about their aging bodies. Both men and women have different views of old age which they associate with their body image. Women at the age of sixty years are said to be more conscious of their aging body than their women counterparts of the age between twenty and forty. Aging women not only experience decrease in beauty but also a decrease in public visibility and authority. On the other hand, mens aging affects their objective capabilities and function.

When aging, some gender differences occur in certain specific cognitive patterns. Women aged more than 65 years are said to participate more in the daily cognitive roles than men of the same age, for instance touring in the parks. On the other hand, community roles are said to affect cognitive progress (Cruikshank 2003, p. 155).

Gender differences can be found in the socioeconomic and psychosocial variables of mortality. Men are affected by their lower levels of learning, apparent control, individual commitment, and moreover their bodily functioning. Womens predictors are their minimum social support and their social commitment to various activities.

The differences in gender role development at a young age continue to exist in men and women even at an older age. The gender role is seen more in men than old women and this influences the age of men making them age fast. Social roles are good for the well-being of a person. Performance of several duties is said to be important for both genders health although sometimes several roles may create stress. Women of the age above fifty years are said to be more committed to performing and satisfying roles than their men partners. Most women at this age add extra roles for instance going back to school to reduce health problems and slow down the aging process.

Political influence on aging

Nowadays, there are a large number of aging populations in many countries. The increased number of old people has been influenced by the improvement in science, technology and the medical status of a country, which is enhanced by the governments. The progress in this area has also seen a decrease in the mortality rate, diseases and improvements in nutrition and eating habits (Cruikshank 2003, p. 95).

Different countries have their policies for the aged. For instance, American policies state that all should work unless one is disabled. Every person in America is supposed to stand on his/ her own and the persons hard work, independence, and egotism are meant to make a person live well. This policy would then affect the aging people and since they needed to survive, they deny the fact that they are old and go back to work. Although America and most of the countries have come up with policies addressing the old peoples needs and adaptation to the aging process, some of the aged individuals still find it hard to accept the situation. Increased number of old people in the country has also influenced the voting process. Since most of the old people are said to have homogenous thoughts towards politics, it is found that they influence the leaders of the country through their majority votes (Cruikshank 2003, p. 95).

The economic environment on the aging

The countrys economic status positively or negatively influences the aging system. For instance the industrially developed countries are said to have stable economies which means that they have enough money to support programs of the aging people. A country like Japan has a high GDP that has made it possible to establish policies that have seen her elderly to be well catered up to their last days. Since the old people are prone to too many diseases as compared to the young people, it becomes difficult for a poor country to support a large number of the aged. The economic stability of a country also makes the old people retire early from the working class, but still continue to enjoy the financial benefits that allow them to live well therefore, reducing the rate of aging (Cruikshank 2003, p. 95).

On the other hand, economically stable countries have more the environmental pollution coming from their industries. The polluted environment harbors long-term health risks and effects that make people age early. Although some of these developed countries have controlled their pollution rate, it still remains a challenge to some.

Conclusion

The aging process is a biological stage of a persons life that has some bodily and mental changes. Aging has been seen to be affected by certain factors as ethnicity, class, gender, political and economic environment. The perception of aging can be seen to be different among many aging people depending on these factors that affect aging.

References

Cruikshank, M. (2003). Learning to be old: gender, culture, and aging. USA: Rowman and Littlefield publishers.

Stibich, M.(2009). What is Aging? Web.

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