Too young, too old… What’s the right age?

A clear voice, a destructive smile, a stream of machine guns. when the American Ashton Applewhite finishes his TED talk in Vancouver, Canada in 2017, the whole room bursts into applause. Three bright letters flash on the screen behind him: OLD. Old. Why are the first words that come to mind when we talk about senile frailty, depression, incontinence or old age? Why do we all have an internal fear of aging?

That’s what Ashton Applewhite wanted to know about fifteen years ago, feeling the pressure turn up a notch on the eve of his 55th birthday.^e anniversary With a sharp sense of humor, this former editorial assistant decided to tackle the problem by documenting stereotypes and age discrimination. with manifest book (1), a ted talk With 1.7 million views, a UN conference and the creation of the Old School Online Resource Center (oldschool.info), it challenges received ideas and deconstructs clichés. Aging is not a disease to be fixed or cured, it is a natural and powerful process that unites us all.

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Changing the view of aging

In a youth-obsessed culture, the now 70-year-old urges us to stop stigmatizing people because of their age in order to build a more peaceful and humanistic society. In 2050, 30% of the world’s population will be over 60 (compared to one in five people in 2005). Changing the way we think about aging is more necessary than ever. Too old… or too young? A 2021 United Nations report also shows that ageism (a term coined in 1969 by the American gerontologist Robert Butler), which affects and discriminates at both ends of the chain, is responsible for more than 6 million cases of depression worldwide. Ashton Applewhite invites us to make it as unacceptable as any other form of discrimination.

Miss Figaro. –You have made ageism your battle. What was the trigger?
Ashton Applewhite. – I just realized that I am getting old and it worries me a lot. Because I have a crazy side, my way of problem solving is to do research. And there I discovered that everything I thought I knew about aging was either wrong or not nuanced enough. Preconceived notions about old age are what define old age. Aging affects biology, economics, gender relations, literature, philosophy, whatever. It’s a fascinating topic.

What were the first ideas you came up with that you deconstructed?
My biggest fear was ending up in a horrible nursing home. However, I found that only 2.5% of Americans over 65 are institutionalized. For people 85 and older, we go to 9%. Another serious concern is senile dementia. If we subtract the percentage of people over 65 in nursing homes, then 90% of the remaining population is in good cognitive condition. Even as the population ages, dementia rates are falling dramatically. I also imagined depressed old people. It turns out, according to statistical studies, that people are happiest at the beginning and end of their lives. It is called a U-shaped happiness curve. I’m not saying our fears about aging aren’t real, but we never hear both sides of the story, so our fears are out of proportion to reality.

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We live in a culture that bombards us with negative messages about aging

Ashton Applewhite

You explain that we have all internalized the idea that aging is a burden. How do you explain that?
We live in a culture that bombards us with negative messages about aging, from cartoons to children’s books. We integrate three things very quickly. “Wrinkles are ugly. Old people are incompetent. It’s sad to get old.” It continues with the absence of older people, especially women, in the media. If you look at billboards, magazines, TV shows and movies, older people are not represented in society in proportion to their numbers. We elders may be the “oldest” of all because we have had a lifetime to internalize these messages. We never think to question the underlying idea that aging means losing value as a human being. If we do nothing to denounce these clichés, we will continue to perpetuate them and suffer from them.

However, the media shows the elderly in great shape, productive, inspiring, doesn’t this contradict the standard discourse about aging as decline?
I don’t think so, because it divides us. Who is the best age? Who is the most beautiful? In the patriarchal and capitalist world we live in, women age by being beautiful and men by being active. I don’t want to be relegated to a decorative object. For men, too, it is a burden to consider only according to their productivity. You know, we age well by adapting. And the problem with these “success models” is that they suggest you never have to adjust to the fact that you’re growing up.

There’s a global labor shortage, so hire over 50s.

Ashton Applewhite

Antiaging creams, vitality miracle drugs, we do everything we can to delay the effects of aging. Is it in vain?
To grow old is to live. So yes, you can look more or less fresh or wrinkled, especially if you’ve had cosmetic surgery. But if our goal is to never change, we will inevitably fail. Our fear of aging is rooted in selfishness. We can draw a parallel with the positive movement of the body. When I was 16, the fact that my thighs touched made me sick. I looked at my body and hated what I saw. However, this self-hatred is beneficial, there is an entire economy based on it. If we said: “My thighs touch, I have wrinkles and that’s fine with me because that’s who I am,” we’d be happier. And many industries will lose money. It is a toxic narrative that is being sold to us and it needs to be deconstructed.

Age wreaks havoc in the world of work. Those over 50 have a harder time getting job interviews and are more likely to be fired. What do companies have to gain from hiring older people?
Age is a measure of diversity, such as ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. However, studies show that companies with more diversity make better decisions and are more resilient. And then, we will have to get used to the obvious. in a world where we are living longer and longer, we all need to find ways to continue to meet our needs, not only in our fifties but also in our sixties. more. And, FYI, the world has a labor shortage, so hire people over 50.

In March 2021, the WHO published a special report warning about the harmful effects of ageism on physical and mental health. What are they?
Health data is fascinating. We know that ageism in medicine means worse treatment for older people. Doctors spend more time with younger patients and tend to take their concerns more seriously. This is institutional ageism at work. Internalized ageism also matters a lot. A growing body of research shows that our own attitudes toward aging have measurable effects on how our bodies function at the cellular level. People with more positive or, shall we say, more realistic feelings about aging walk faster, recover from disabilities faster, and live longer. The average is seven and a half years older.

Ageism is the only discrimination that everyone, young and old, faces.

Ashton Applewhite

We’ve seen the phrase “Okay, boomer” used by young people to criticize baby boomers. Is the generation gap more pronounced than ever?
Baby-boomers, millennials, generation X or Y, these are labels that have no scientific basis. How could a group of people born around the same time around the world have anything in common? This idea of ​​generation gives age far more weight than it deserves compared to social class, which in turn shapes our experiences and our values. The phrase “OK, boomer” was used by Chloe Swarbrick, a young MP from New Zealand. He was responding to an older white man who mocked his concerns about climate change. His answer wasn’t the best, it’s insulting and stereotypical, but it’s not a big deal. The interesting thing here is that if we older people want to participate in current discussions, we must make an effort to follow what is happening in society and what is important to young people. To take a position that makes sense in modern debate, one must open up to others. When Chlöe Swarbrick says “OK, boomer,” she’s saying, “Your point of view is irrelevant today,” and I agree with her.

How to make things happen?
It all starts with awareness. First, we need to recognize our own biases about age and aging and note how ageism affects us. Then you have to meet people of all ages, create collaborations between generations. Finally, I believe in activism. create or join an age equality group, consult anti-age resources, and share them. You’ll find lots of tools and ideas at oldschool.info, my free online resource center.

Changing the culture is a big challenge, are you optimistic?
It’s hard to be optimistic in the US right now. But I think about gay and transgender rights. See how much progress we’ve made in a very short time. And it has to do with sex in the overly prudish American culture. Ageism is the only discrimination that everyone faces, young and old for that matter. There is slow awareness, we are starting to talk about it in the media, campaigns are being organized all over the world. This is proof that a global movement is on its way.

(1) This podium stones. manifest vs ageistnot translated into French.