Last updated on November 4, 2024
A stutter. A prolonged pause. A misplaced word. For anyone else, these minor lapses during a debate would be considered, well… minor. Seemingly inconsequential moments could be chalked up to nervousness or waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Now picture this: for the first time in American history, a sitting U.S. president has dropped out of a re-election race due to verbal and visual missteps.
Joe Biden has never been known as a great public speaker. In fact, when he was young, he had a stutter that caused bullying and teasing from both classmates and teachers. Nevertheless, he overcame these early speech difficulties, going on to serve a successful four-decade career as a U.S. Senator, winning two terms as U.S. Vice President, and then becoming the 46th President of the United States. This begs the question: why is it that people are making accusations regarding his mental capacity now?
No matter how it is viewed, analyzed, or reviewed, President Biden didn’t perform well in his debate against Donald Trump. He stumbled through his words, spoke weakly, and his words would drift into an incoherent jumble. Even looking past these issues, Biden missed multiple points in the debate where he could’ve responded more successfully to Trump’s attacks, and also missed opportunities to highlight his opponent’s known weaknesses such as the topic of women’s health.
That being said, the former president didn’t perform perfectly in the debate either, blatantly lying at times and struggling to present clear ideas. However, one major difference set them apart: Trump had a confident demeanor that projected more energy than Biden’s.
As seen in the debate, President Biden speaks and reacts more slowly than he used to. Problems with his speaking may or may not be caused by cognitive issues, and his refusal to take a cognitive test isn’t reassuring. The conflict in question is that many people saw the debate performance, took one look at Biden, and said, “Oh, he is old and he has dementia.” Of course, not all people jumped to a conclusion this extreme, but many vocal groups in the media and online did. The primary reason driving these reactions is age stereotypes that go unchecked in our society.
Think about this example: An Asian man gets into a fender bender. Soon after, authorities take away his license, due to their understanding of a common Asian stereotype, being bad at driving. Is this justified? No, of course not. That would be racism since their actions were clearly fueled by a false racial stereotype. If it did occur, there would be major backlash against the authorities and public outcry. Adopting this mindset, think of an elderly man with lapses in his communication and memory. Does society now say he has dementia, unable to make good decisions with his impaired judgment? Do you force him to give up on re-election just because of communication issues possibly caused by age? Well…it’s complicated. Of course, President Biden’s decision goes beyond this single event, but it’s hard to ignore the ageist ideas and conclusions drawn from it.
Ageism mostly goes unseen in today’s modern age. Whether that be stereotypes that depict them as slow and confused, or seeing growing old as becoming more fragile, there are plenty of examples of negative stigma tied to the elderly. According to the National Library of Medicine, studies have shown that from a young age, children already have stereotypes of older people in their minds as being sick, needing help, and possessing unattractive features. Physically, this unseen bias can eventually result in cognitive decline, health decline, and even depression in older adults. Overall, in this society, older people often are portrayed and seen in a negative light, causing a rift between younger and older generations. However, in other parts of the world, elders are respected, not put in nursing homes or viewed as a burden, but instead honored and part of the family. The reason for this is embedded deep within societies themselves and the values that they carry for aging. Regardless, ageism is an issue in American society, and while it cannot be resolved overnight, solutions can be implemented to assist in the long term.
President Biden’s case stands as an example of ageist bias and its effects. Whether his decision to drop out truly was due to the belief that it would lead to a brighter future for America is still very much possible, but it is clear that the public reaction to his age and outward appearance played a factor. Ageism is an underseen and under-discussed issue in America and to help combat it, more efforts are needed to discuss the issue and educate each other about its existence.
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