Why is America apparently so fixated on one's date of birth and age?

Question

...especially when witnessed within the media, governmental agencies and corporations...

Thanks everyone who responded to my question.

Each response seems to imply that the focus of age can antedate discriminatory factors by its very nature.

For example, age can be used to categorize (quantify/qualify) individuals in order to determine where resources are allocated. Also, one response mentioned “I don't think there's a terrible lot of age-ism where people are discriminated…” but don't you agree that even one incidence of discrimination (inconsiderate of one’s merit) anywhere in America is too much discrimination everywhere.

And if there were only a few problems associated with ageism there would be little need for laws to defend against ageism, right?

So if the American public prides itself on being an assimilated melting pot and yet focusing on age can be a precursor to age-discrimination--which may be problematic for society as a whole, shouldn’t we re-consider our system as separatist/categorical and not melted?

Answer 1

I think it's largely an identification thing. There can be many John Smiths. Even many John Alexander Smiths. But how many John Alexander Smiths are there that were born on Jan. 1, 1900?

When I was a journalism student, we were supposed get other identifiers, like DOB or addresses, to make sure the John Smith we got was the right one. But I don't think there's a *fixation* -- outside of Hollywood, I don't think there's a terrible lot of age-ism where people are discriminated against.

I think the Japanese make a much bigger deal of DOB and the ages; partly for identification, but also because it's a big part of the culture. For ex: the year men turn 42 is supposed to be especially unlucky for them, and many men take special steps to get extra luck, and avoid bad luck.

Answer 2

It's not just America, many places place value on this. Right now, Chinese New Year's is about to occur and it will be the year of the Golden Pig, a very prestigious time to be born for many eastern cultures. We also need such things as a fixed birth and age to quantify and qualify people for various reasons because if we didn't, we'd not be able to afford to care for every single person.