Has Society Discriminated Against Elderly People?

Society has a plethora of ways to marginalize groups of people. Society often discriminates against people just because of a certain quality they have. Elderly people are commonly a victim to discrimination solely because of their age. In Britain, the government introduced a default retirement age in 2006 which allowed employers to “terminate” or deny employment to anyone over 65. Fortunately, the bill was challenged and was abolished five years later; however, if no one challenged it than this blatant oppression would have continued until it was fought against. This shows the importance of fighting for what you believe in. Additionally, actions aren’t the only way that society can marginalize people; marginalization can also take place verbally. It occurs when people openly talk about someone in a negative, berating manner based on a certain group that they belong to. In “Miss Brill” the protagonist becomes a victim to verbal abuse because of her age. The young couple that are prejudiced against her aren’t even aware of her precise range. Solely by judging Miss Brill’s appearance, all they know is that she’s old. However, before Miss Brill and the couple met, Miss Brill was blissfully happy with her loneliness. She went to the park alone every Sunday where she calmly listened to the band, innocently eavesdropped on peoples’ conversations, and harmlessly constructed her own reality. She is portrayed as a person with no mal-intentions who uses her imagination to spice up her reality. However, her fragile fantasy was completely shattered after the couple berated her, just because of her age! It just seems silly to think of someone like that simply because of the amount of time she has been alive. Miss Brill’s sense of reality was instantaneously replaced with the boy’s perspective of her which destroyed her sense of identity and self-worth. Her sensitivity permitted her mind to believe that she’s nothing but a “stupid old mug” who should just “keep her silly old mug at home.” Apathetic, his words caused her to withdraw into “[her] dark little room”. The simple use of words essentially isolated her from the rest of society. With that mindset engraved in her, she’s definitely not going back to the park or really anywhere else for that matter. The attitude of “who wants [me anyways]” seemed to be burned into her at that moment. Her life had been marginally valued which caused her to move to the edge of society.