Because we live in a world dominated by media that highlights youth and beauty and fears and denigrates age.

Once you're not as fuckable as a hot 20/30 something you fall out of the most highly targeted and highly coveted market.

I observe it at work in particular.
I watch the old guys get pushed out as non-performers and new ones brought in, regardless of their actual performance.

We'll counter every other Ism, but not Ageism--It likely touches too closely on our collective failure to have adequate healthcare, so age is synonymous with decay, dying, and death, and as a culture we're far too immature to handle those topics.

I was 58 when I was forced to retire due to medical disability. I am happy to not be on the road all week. Miss my career yes but I am free despite ageism. Don't have to deal with it.

Because people in general have an, "it'll never happen to me" complex.

It's a cultural thing, unfortunately. Young people don't see it until they get older and realize they're not the center of attention anymore. What is the saying, "youth is wasted on the young" - absolutely.

It is a shame that our culture values youth above almost anything else. I grew up respecting my elders, and I still do. I love older people, especially since I AM an "older people", but I have always got along with people older than myself. The company I work for has done some downsizing and reorganization. I feel that some of the older workers have been put into new departments/areas as a way to MAKE them quit, rather than firing them and causing a rukus. It's sad.

Because you can't imagine being old for a really long time if at all when your young but then all of a sudden it seems your there. ageing is like a toilet roll, the further you get in the quicker it seems to go.

It’s very unfortunate. I have always been friends with people of all ages. Most people, of any age, have something to offer.

I have always thought older people tended to be rude whilst younger people more polite . Not all of course but generally this hasn't changed as I have become older

the young live in a protective delusion about aging and death

yes it is

Good topic! I guess there are several different arenas in which ageism rears its head. But specifically about the work world, I see it all the time with people I counsel, so many forced out of their jobs or made miserable intentially to try to get them to retire on their own. NPR had a segment just last day talking to IBM programmers, and the company's recent shift in culture no longer showing any consideration for senior employees. It reported they absolutely directly force retirement now at age 55. I am 50, and even as a professional I realize finding another job at my age starts to get difficult. That is a major reason that, no matter how much I might rather live in a different state, I plan to stay where I am at and retire from my present company, then consider relocating only after I have retired.

It's true.
Younger people avoid us at all costs like we were plagued. It's as if we reached a certain age and others see us as not knowing or understanding of what they're thinking. Like a portion of our past had been erased like a punishment for surviving it.

Richard Pryor did a skit on this once.... Something to the effect of..."People think old people are fools. You don't get old being a fool.".

I just wish more people on this Earth had consideration and concern for others. I think that's one of our major, bottom line issues that directly contributes to problems we face in society.

Ageism is absolutely real. We become invisible to younger age groups. Embrace your own age group, and look for the youthful minded minority who are adjusting to the changes in their body and their mind, and still open to possibilities and adventure. Statistically most women age rigidly and are annoyed when men seek younger partners, not realizing that it is not for their bodies, but for their flexibility of mind.

True. There are laws against it the US, but one can't change the way people think with laws.

It's a "thing" because a lot of people are idiots.
Our society is completely preoccupied by the youth culture.

You just be yourself let not others judge you You don't owe them anything in life yet abudance of experiences in your journey