When the body has matured fully it will slowly start to deteriorate, the oncoming of old age. The body will decline, involves decrease in muscle tone, reflexes, physical strength and energy. There is also the slow lose of vision, hearing, and other senses; fertility and potency; baldness, hair colour, and the smoothness of skin and the efficiency of the immune system.. The mental side of old age includes loss of memory, reduction in reckless physical courage and in sexual desire, impairment of puzzle and problem-solving ability, and reduced willingness to be adventurous. Women experience a specific transition, menopause, which ceases the ability to bear children and the menstruation cycle will stop.
Death is the last process, the body ceases to live.
The biological perspective believes that these are the four processes that human beings go through, however if society was held to these physiological changes, there would be no cultural diversity. In order to have cultural diversity different cultures react differently towards these changes.
Many sociologists believe that age is socially constructed, this is due to the cultural diversity that exists and the diverse behaviours of the age groups. Sociologists in western society, generalise the life stages, childhood, teenagers, adults and the elderly. Childhood is from birth to adolescence, being a teenager is the transitional period from a child to an adult, adulthood is then followed by becoming elderly and then by death.
The concept of childhood in the contemporary industrial society is the dependence upon adults for a long period of time, human beings have no natural defence mechanisms therefore adults protect the child, they will socialise the child and provide for it till the child meets the societies expectations of it being an adult. During this process the child has little or no responsibilities and is sent to school where he is able to play and learn with members of the same peer group.
The idea that a child was sent to school without responsibilities didn’t always exist, Phillipe Aries says that is relatively new, and idea of the twentieth century. Before this childhood did not exist. Children became adults as soon as they were able to be independent which would be as young as seven.
Musgrove (functionalist) suggests that in the late 18th and 19th century parents saw their children as economical assets and valued them to help earn an income. The abilities and skills of children were becoming largely valued in the new industries. However after the introduction of the Education Act in 1870 the birth rate slumped, children were no longer as important to the economy and were moving outwards to more trivial occupations. This shows that children didn’t always attend school, children having to go to school gave them a childhood.
The adolescent period or teenage phase is also a generally new stage. Adolescence being linked to puberty refers to the transitional period from child to adult and to the changes one goes through at this time. This is influenced by the society surrounding the child and therefore is different from culture to culture. Different values and norms establish each cultures adolescent stage, in some cultures legislations also define this stage.
In the united kingdom there are laws that identify certain life stages, for example the legal age of consent which, over the years, has increased in the 1860’s the legal age of consent was twelve years old, in 1885 the legal age was increased from twelve to sixteen. This change was due to a belief of an increase in child prostitution. Society has defined the age in which it is suitable to copulate unlike the biological standing that one can reproduce as soon as the body has developed. Other laws such as the age for marriage being eighteen without the permission of their parents enforce the point that society defines age and they have changed over the years.
Many societies don’t have a definite period of transition from childhood to adulthood but a ceremony that initiates the child at a certain age, these vary from culture to culture. Often in tribal cultures the transition from child to adult is some sort of challenge to prove that he is worthy to be an adult, hunting, fishing, fighting or some sort of tattoo or body piercing. In Sierra Leone the transition from child to women is female genital mutilation to prove that they are worthy or becoming part of the woman’s society. This gives the child a new respected status as a woman and the right to be married. This initiation often takes place between the age of seven and fourteen. The idea that you can take this at any age indicates that society does construct the age.
It has also been said that the surfacing of youth cultures is due to the materialistic tendencies of today’s society. It was discovered that after the enforcement of compulsory education pop music and other aspects offered a new identity to teenagers. The industries marketed their products to follow the new youth trends, to cater the ‘needs’ of these adolescents producing all sorts of products to interest them, music, film, books, everything. Music emphasized freedom and rebellion which were linked to adolescents. This enforces the different handling of the transitional period of different societies depending on its tastes.
Old age is said to be socially constructed in that in Western society when someone reaches ‘old age’ they tend to be treated differently. They are often perceived as pensioners or senior citizens and to be out of touch with the younger generation, inactive and ill. These labels may cause an elderly person into a self-fulfilling prophecy where they will conform to these stereotypes.
Nowadays it is harder to define old age by appearance, people are taking better care of themselves and older people look and feel better or look ‘younger’. There are also many ways to get around old age, such as plastic surgery or Botox and new wrinkling formulas believed to help slow down aging. As people are looking after themselves better the life expectancy goes up, people are living healthier and longer.
It is much harder to judge someone’s age nowadays, new trends and advances in technology make it difficult to perceive old age.
The food that we eat depends hugely on our class background. Generally the diet of the middle class and the Upper class tends to be a lot healthier than the diet of the working class which has a huge affect on the elderly in both classes. Better life chances earlier on in life means less chance of needing care later on and more likely to live longer and healthier. The pensions that the state provides is not enough to sustain a decent living, middle class families are more likely to have saving accounts and private pensions to provide a satisfying retirement and support however for a working class pensioner, the state pension is their only support.
Being young, middle aged or old varies depending on ethnicity and gender. According to David Gillborn education, employment and job oppurtinites vary depending on ethnicity. People from different ethnic groups are likely to be discriminated against finding it difficult to get decent life chances and a decent life. Feminists argue that women earn less and get less promotions but live longer then men giving them larger pensions then their male partners, however lower wages means that their pension is less then the males because they have earned less over the years then men.
Age is socially constructed, although there are some biological aspects to the legislations and social view points that define the age such as conception, puberty and degeneration. History has shown the changes in the viewpoints towards age and the different perceptions from child to adult to elderly, changes that have occurred due to legislations and advances in technology and medical science. Other cultures have shown that age is a social construct by their traditions and initiations at certain ages which vary from each culture. Class, Gender, Ethnicity have also proven to effect age , that stratification in society effects how one would perceive age. The idea that definitions of age change due to time and trends enforces that age must be a social construct.
Bibliography
Sociology Themes and Perspectives – Haralambos and Holborn
Sociology in Focus
Medical Science
Health and Your Family
http://www.womenscommission.org/reports/sl/04.html