Words Matter
Attendees at the annual Gerontological Society of America (GSA) conference took a deep dive into how words can propagate ageism and bolster negative stereotypes of older adults. Actions included analyzing 62 million social media posts on the platform X for ageist terminology, and examining how older characters are described in children’s books. One notable, concrete effort was petitioning two of the world’s most respected dictionaries—Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam Webster—to update their definitions of ageism to encompass a broader description of who is impacted. Results TBD.