Worlds of difference: inequality in the aging experience

Worlds of Difference is designed to enhance the inclusiveness of the
undergraduate curriculum in social gerontology. We believe this is
important for two reasons. First, undergraduate students today
represent greater diversity in gender, race, and social class than did
undergraduates in previous decades, and pedagogical research has
demonstrated that students become engaged in curricula that "give
voice" to their experiences. Second, projected increases in diversity
within the elderly population over the coming decades demand that
people working in the field of gerontology be knowledgeable about
the experiences of people of different genders, races, ethnic groups,
and social classes. Designing an inclusive curriculum is not just a
matter of fairness or affirmative action; it is a central component of
educating people to live and work in the twenty-first century
(Moses, 1992).
In preparing the introductory essays and selecting the readings,
we were guided by several principles. First, we believe it is essential
to move beyond conceptions of gender, race, and class as attributes
of individuals that must be controlled statistically or experimentally
J. S. Jackson, 1989). Instead, we conceptualize these categories as
social constructs, as classifications based on social values that
influence identity formation, opportunity structures, and adaptive
resources. We visualize these social constructs as interlocking
hierarchies that create systems of privilege as well as disadvantage.
Too often, the experience of people who are disadvantaged along
one or more hierarchies is contrasted with the experience of the
dominant group, which is presented as the "norm." Supported by
the ideology of a meritocracy, this approach masks the structural
foundations of privilege. Too frequently, it is assumed that only
people of color have "race," that only women have "gender," that
only the poor have "social class," and that only recent immigrants
have "ethnicity" (Higginbotham, 1989). Our emphasis on the
intersections of these multiple systems of inequality is designed
to help students understand that older people can experience
disadvantage along one dimension but privilege along others. As
Margaret Andersen and Patricia Hill Collins (1992) explain, "Race,
class and gender are part of the whole fabric of experience for all
groups, not just women and people of color"