Asian cultures ultimately value aging more than American cultures because they know that the elderly have lived long enough to have accumulated experienced knowledge throughout their entire lives. Not only are the elderly wise, but they have also had plenty of time to gather endless amounts of practiced knowledge.
After interviewing Sophia Ha-Seon Park, a friend whom I went to high school with, I was able to get a decent picture of why Asians value aging. Before speaking to Sophia, I thought that I respected my elders, however I never held them to the high standards that she and other Asians do. Speaking with Sophia has caused me to change my personal view on the definition of respect.
In the past, I believed that respect was merrily a courtesy we sometimes give people of all ages. I thought that respect was optional as long as we continued to be good-mannered. Thinking that I was being respectful, I often kept my thoughts to myself if they differed from other’s opinions to avoid confrontational discussions that eventually lead to arguments. I now realize that this is all avoidable.
I now know that while respect is still important to give to people of all ages, it should be showered over my elders. Respect is a statement that we can wear on our sleeve; if we see someone else wearing the same ‘clothing’ as ourselves, we know that they will give back the respect which we give to them. Respect has never been optional, although I used to think it was. Respect is a necessity in all aspects of society. It is because of Sophia that I have improved my outlook on respect for not just the elderly, but people all-around.
Sophia Ha-Seon Park was born on October 27, 1995 in the city of Seoul, South Korea. Her father’s name was Yongra...
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...ca, they live their lives as Americans do except for occasionally speaking in their native tongue. Therefore, she does not call him by his title of respect, nor does he wish her to.
Today, Eric and Sophia have been friends for several years and just began dating in early March of this year. He believes in treating each other equally despite their upbringing; he considers true respect to be when we don’t insist upon being called a certain name simply because we are older. Sophia stated that Eric consistently tells her that being older does not necessarily mean a person is wiser. He considers Sophia to be extremely well educated and even more intelligent than himself. All people who are older than ourselves deserve respect, but it is not until a person has exceeded us by a certain amount of years that we should value their knowledge and experience more than our own.
Respect is a such a simple concept and a virtue that should be simple to follow. It means treating other people and animals in a dignified manner. Respect doesn’t mean that people need to hug everyone they come across or hold their opinion higher than everyone elses. Respect means treating others as equals and acknowledging that as human
Respecting your grandparents and elders is a given. Either if your mom warns you to do it or if you’ve just grown to respect them yourself, we all are taught to respect them. In the stories,”Abuela Invents the Zero,” and “Celebration of Grandfathers,” These usual teachings are amplified because respecting your elders would be considered the theme. In “Abuela Invents the Zero,” A teenaged girl named Constancia learns a valuable lesson on this topic, changing her personal values for a lifetime to come. Along with her realizations and now “opened eyes,” Anaya from the story,”Celebration of Grandfathers,” tells us about his life on the farm with his grandfather and growing up being with such a powerful role model. He tells us how these experiences shaped his
Takamura, J.C. (1999). Getting ready for the 21st Century: The aging of America and the older
“All I’m asking is for a little respect when you get home. R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me. R-e-s-p-e-c-t, take care TCB.” The notorious, veracious lyrics of Aretha Franklin’s song “Respect” probably ring in everyone’s ears as soon as they hear the word respect. Through the power of music, Aretha Franklin recognized the importance of instilling necessary words into everyone’s head. Hopefully everyone understood the lyrics well enough so the words pop into their head at the most essential times. It’s important for everyone to be respectful to everyone, including being respectful to oneself. That means holding aplomb, being truthful, and holding a healthy sense of self-worth. In addition, respect teaches a person to stay out of trouble because they value others thoughts and considerations as highly as their own. Respect controls a person’s temper. Respect builds up a society to become a better place. It relates to a person’s values and actions. The five reasons stated are just a few of the several reasons why everyone should exhibit respect.
One important measure of the perception of the aging process is the manner in which aging and old age are depicted in various cultural forms. The condition of old age in primitive and prehistoric societies has been described by the folk tales and cave drawings of that have survived to the present (Fisher, 1978). Likewise, it is possible that current societal views of aging may be illuminated through the impressions created by contemporary agents of socialization. And while it is difficult to determine whether stereotypical images are derived from reality or if, if fact, such images create reality (Clark, 1980), it is possible to investigate how and to what extent certain institutions reflect various images of the aging process.
Most of the Asian population in the US is concentrated in the Western states of California and Hawaii.
Nelson argues that ageism exists in America due to the cultural bias of American society towards the youth. According to Nelson, American culture encourages the youth to emulate a very individualistic and dominative personality, thereby promoting the idea that the life of the youth is in their own hands. Aging and death are factors that are not in our control, so lack of control causes youthful individuals to lash out in fear towards aging, death, and the elderly. This argument is made stronger by the comparison between modern, westernized culture and a more conventional, eastern culture. Nelson compares the idea eastern cultures promote a sort of reverence towards elders due to their long life and wisdom. In eastern culture, the youth look up to their elders with respect and dignity, while the modernized, western culture promotes a more individualistic viewpoint. By presenting this comparison, as well as the
Bookman and Kimbrel acknowledge the gap between financial status as well as culture and race, they stated, “.because elders are widely diverse by race and socioeconomic status, their families attach differing cultural meanings to care and have widely different resources with which to accomplish their care goals” (2011). Thus, creating the large gap seen in nursing home facilities. Specifically, cultures like the Chinese maintain traditions like filial piety, in which the adult children must care for their elderly parent (Li & Buechel, 2007). This type of culture defines the line between those who view nursing homes as ideal and those who prefer a separate form of older adult care.
The Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology (1996) was a helpful source to gain a definition on aging which includes the concepts of life course, seniority, and treatment of the aged. Aging can be measured by common biological content: proportion of the maximum fife span one has lived, performance on a series of physiological tests which index biological age, and patterns of the age­specific risk of mortality. Despite this universal biological content, it is notable that aging takes on a variety of forms, many which show regular associations with aspects of culture. Rather than focusing on age, it may be more appropriate to review the life cy...
As the years pass and we began to age we all notice a change and this change that comes is not the apparent physical change but rather the attitudes and personification people have as we enter our old age. It seems as though, as we begin to age we notice that a sense of respect begins to build from the younger generation. According to the book “social perspectives on aging, “ it states that ‘today most social gerontologists prefer activity theory, which assumes that older people benefit both themselves and their society if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.” In other words the elderly are benefiting from what they built on their own over their lifetime and they are also benefiting from society
In three seperate dictionaries, respect is defined as a regard for or appreciation of the worth or value of someone or something. In my opinion, respect goes far beyond this definition. Respect is the cornerstone of the society in which we live. Although many look at respect as simply treating another person or thing with kindness, this word has many different aspects. For instance, I would not give an elder the same type of respect that I would give my peers or myself. Respect is not considered a neccessity in this world but, I can’t imagine a person getting very far in life without this virtue.
In conclusion respect is wrapped around our day to day lives. A famous philosopher once said “Respect is showing acknowledgement for some ones superiority in a certain field.” You can’t buy, demand, or force people to respect you but you can respect others in order for them to respect you. What people do not understand is that if we use common sense we would be respecting ourselves, respecting others, and respecting property all the time. Respecting yourself, others, and property might not be easy to do but it does have great rewards if you just do it.
While it is accepted that wisdom usually only comes with age, older people should also listen to younger ones, otherwise it would be impossible for the world to function. Without new ideas, a fresh outlook, and differing opinions, there would be no civilisation.
In the African American culture death is seen as a part of the “rhythm of life”, which lessens the cultural fear around aging. Many individuals of African American descent embrace the idea of sharing the relative’s latter life with younger generations. While, the Chinese and Indian were found to be quite similar in respects to their views of their elders. Both cultures embraced those of the aging population as the highest virtue, head of household and often times cared for them in their old age (Huffington Post, 2017). One vast difference found was children of Chinese descent were labeled as “uncaring or a bad son” if they placed their parents in retirement homes (Huffington Post, 2017). From a personal perspective, the difference exists because many cultures found outside the American traditions, pride themselves greatly on family and keeping the traditions of their culture and passing them on to future generations. Whereas, African Americans children often times were forced, guilt tripped or being ridiculed for not falling align to what is expected of them (i.e. caring for those aging within the
The relation between culture and age has often been the subject of discourse in recent gerontological studies. It is argued that there is an inherent relation between the two. The difference marked by age or our perception of old age, in particular, is a cultural and social construction. Consequently, the meanings and value assigned to old age are also socially constructed. This in turn leads to a reshaping of identity or what Holstein and Gubrium term as ‘self-construction’(Randall and McKim 235). However, what we need to consider is whether it is only this construct that is solely responsible for determining our response to aging. Does our environment have complete agency in shaping our attitude or is it also dependent on how we, as