Day 11 (16-day format): Age and Cohort

6:00 - Attendance
collect Daily Top 5 lists

Chapter 11 group confers: (???)

6:10 - Group-lead discussion

7:30 - break

7:40 - Instructor-lead discussion


Hopefully, you know what age means.  What is a "cohort"?


What cohorts are there in America?

1. Lost Generation - born at the end of the 1800's, came of age during WWI, enjoyed prosperity of the "roaring" 1920's, virtually all gone now
2. Greatest Generation - early 1900-'25, came of age during the Great Depression and fought in WWII
3. Silent Generation - 1925-'45, children during Great Depression, too young for WWII but fought the Korean war, grave and fatalistic
4. Baby Boomers - 1945-'60, post-war economic boom caused many people who had waited to start families, grew up with affluence and optimism, Cold War with space race and moon landing as formative events, fought the Vietnam war
5. Generation X - '60s & '70s, "Baby Bust" drop in fertility rates with increased industrialization, hippie counter-culture, high education, Civil Rights movement as formative, first major generation gap (see p.190) caused resistance to war and resentment towards elders
6. Millennials - '80s & '90s (& maybe early 2000s), Generation Y, the "Me" generation is more self-centered (less civic participation, more materialistic), 9/11 and Iraq/Afghanistan wars as formative events
7. iGeneration - 2000's - present, Generation Z, children today who never knew a world without advanced technology, multiculturalism, and globalization. Highly connected through social media, possibly will see the Great Recession as a formative influence.

 

Children can't wait to be grown-ups
 

Teenagers look forward to independence
 

Old folks wish they could be young again
 

Does this imply that our culture values a certain age category?
What is the "meaning" of being old in our culture?  Being young? (195)

The Social Construction of Childhood (and other life course stages)... cultural variable

Childhood - Kids often work in other countries.  In European art from the middle ages, we often see depictions of kids as small adults, identical in all other ways to adults. We are in a rich country so kids don't HAVE to work, so our culture has shifted to define childhood as carefree and playful.  An economic impact of industrialization was the "separation of public and private spheres," and that more education and skills are required of workers, so formal education has become more important...  But it wasn't always this way.  Here's the Lost Generation in photos from 1908-12.

When are kids "adults?"  This has obviously changed since 1908, but is it still changing?  Is it reversing in direction?  In America we extend childhood longer, relative to the rest of the world, so of course we are concerned when kids grow up faster, or when there seems to be pressure to grow up faster.

What about imposing adulthood and sexuality on children (Toddlers & Tiaras, etc...)?

Where does this pressure come from?

kids' natural emulation of adults + cultural impetus from media + increasingly indulgent parents (perhaps trying to live vicariously through their children, like in Toddlers & Tiaras - but in doing so are imposing an adult frame of understanding childhood on their kids)

Adolescence – The idea of that there is a long stage between childhood and (young) adulthood that is characterized by immaturity and capriciousness is only about 120 years old.  Before this idea was invented, children were expected to take on adult roles as soon as they were able, apprenticing their parents and transitioning to adulthood with the onset of puberty.  Sociologist point out that the confusion and emotion we associate with the teenage years come not just from biological puberty, but from social confusion over norms and status (anomie).  Teenages are assailed with contradictory messages of being no longer children, but not yet adults either: they can go to war but not drink alcohol; they can be sexy but shouldn't have sex; they should be developing their own independent personalities yet are told to obey their parents...

Adulthood – support yourself, career goals, parenting, different for men and women, have to face aging which our culture doesn't like. (youth-worship, Ageism)

Working class = adults around 20 or shortly after high school, start work and parenting.

Wealthy = adults around 30 or after college, maybe even graduate school or traveling.

Old Age – retirement, hobbies/self-actualization, health problems, social security, become a burden?

 

What does it mean that aging is a "universal, genetically programmed process" and that, "as a sociocultural process... it varies in structure, content, and meaning?"
 

If it is universal, how can it vary in structure?
In content?
In meaning?
 

Do class, race, ethnicity, and/or gender interact with age in socially significant ways?
(see gender vs. death and poverty rates on p.192)



 

Small-scale, low-tech societies are often gerontocracies.
Why?
Why not large-scale, high-tech societies?
 

Are we "overinformed and underenlightened?" (187)
What are the differences in how elderly folks are viewed in these two kinds of societies?

How does each kind of society take care of its elderly?



 

 

We will all go through the same age categories, so how does age affect our identity?  "Most people probably don't recognize aging by looking in the mirror; they do so situationally and by comparison, gradually perceiving themselves in relation to others who are younger or older." (189)
 

People are living longer... why?
 

Older people have more assets than younger people... why?
  

What does it mean that we are approaching a "Gray Dawn" as the Baby Boomers age?

Economic issues?

Political issues?

Cultural issues?  What does "Go south, old woman, go south!" mean?  (196)


 

What does it mean that diversity is increasing among the young? ("The Gray and the Brown" p.198)

Whites are 80% of older Americans, they grew up mainly in white suburbs, and they are now forming mostly homogenous retirement communities... but only 56% of American children are white, and they are experiencing more diversity and multiculturalism... what will this mean for our future?

What's going on in Arizona? (199)

Are the elderly in trouble because they are not valued in our high-tech world and we put value on investing in our kids?

Or are they doing well because we spend $7/senior for every $1/child we spend? (200)  Why is that such a strong federal priority?

How does the Tea Party fit in? (18% Americans support, mostly older and white, although only 4% actually donate or attend events)

Identity Politics again...  Cohorts?  Age groups?

For Next Time:

• Read Chapter 12: Bodies, Fitness, and Health, and prepare your Top Ten list
• ONLY: (???) - prepare to facilitate a discussion on Chapter 12