Chapter 15 of the 15 th edition of (Macionis, 2013) does an analysis of aging and the elderly and life as a process of growing older. Aging is a process that comes with inevitable change. An individual’s level of satisfaction with life, positive health outcomes, well-being, and quality of life are dependent on their ability to embrace change and approach it in a positive and productive manner. Macionis emphasizes the need for an individual to have a mental advantage – the ability to maintain positive thinking even in negative and challenging circumstances – as this improves the chances for healing in life and positive changes. Aging results in changes not only in our lives but also in our society in general. Society has organized our lives in a patterned manner that corresponds to the various stages of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Aging is sociologically defined as a combination of social, biological, and psychological processes that affect an individual as they grow older.
The process of growing old is a gradual and complex process that has social, biological, and psychological dimensions that not only coincide with an individual’s chronological age but also fully corresponds with one another. However, it is true that the sequential age is a measure of the developmental and growing process that takes place in the social, biological, and psychological dimensions, and for this reason, the chronological definition of old age is essential for the purposes of the study.
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Growing old comes with its special experiences but it also results in major disadvantages that include lower income and in some cases the experience of discrimination and prejudice in the workplace and beyond. For this reason, just like gender, race, and class, growing old is considered as a dimension of social stratification. (Macionis, 2013) cites a 1998 report by the United Nations Population Fund, which indicates that the population of individuals aged 65 years and above around the world had grown by 9 million in 1998. It is expected that this population will grow by 21 million by 2050 with the most rapid growth of the old age groups taking place in the industrialized countries in the world. Families in these countries have fewer children and people tend to live longer compared to those in poorer countries. The older population in the industrialized countries grew from 8 percent in 1950 to 14 percent in the late 1990s, and it is estimated that it will grow to 25 percent by 2050.
Individuals in the United States who are above eighteen years of age are considered to be adults, but there is a huge difference between an individual aged 21 years old and one aged 45 years old. There are more specific breakdowns that include young adult and middle-aged adult. The older adult population in the U.S. can be split into three different life-stage subgroups: the young-old (ages sixty-five to seventy-four), the middle-old (ages seventy five to eighty-four), and the old-old (over the age of eighty-five). The young-old age groups are generally healthier, happier, and more financially stable than the other groups. It is also worth noting that many people are making active quality-of-life decisions about their old age while they are still young. This makes it possible for them to choose to house and handle concerns like retirement planning, medical power of attorney, and living wills in advance.
All in all, growing old is not supposed to be the bad thing that most people consider it be. In fact, all you need is the right attitude to realize that aging is fun. The perfect depiction of this is Betty White, who does not fall short of expressing her love for self and her high self-esteem. Becky wrote a song I’m still hot , where she spit funny lines like “ I will get you sweaty ‘cause I’m the big Betty ” This kind of humor is what we all need when growing old to embrace this huge milestone in life.
References
Macionis, J. (2013). Sociology (15th ed.). Pearson.
