The Anti-Ageism Model
Two cranky posts about ageism – Part II I have memories, when I was a young boy, of being told “go play with the other children.” I remember thinking “why should I? I have never met those children, and I’m sure the parents’ conversation will be more to my taste.” Although I wasn’t capable of putting it into words, I was impatient to attain an age at which I wouldn’t be pigeonholed, or reduced to a number without significance due solely to my lack of years.
Predictably, since reaching adulthood I have appreciated being in the neutral or default age range, an age range that comes with few assumptions regarding my tastes in music, my religious or political affiliation, my degree of athleticism, my skills in the kitchen, my views on parenting, or anything else. I wish this age neutrality could last forever, but I am scheduled to hit the big six-oh this winter, and I fear that before too long I will be told to “go play with the other old people.”
Fortunately, my job’s responsibilities – as I work on Cross Keys Village’s image and message – have equipped me to protest age-related prejudice more effectively than when I was a precocious 5-year old. In particular, I have found it helpful to study tools that were recently developed to combat other negative “isms,” and adapt them in the specific field of ageism. For instance, reading the illuminating book How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi has allowed me to discern a crucial difference between age-assimilationism and anti-ageism.
To my chagrin, I would suspect that while no one employed in my field is actively ageist, many are still assimilationists: “old people aren’t so bad: just place them in the right situation and they are almost as great as we age-neutral are.” This attitude may not consider aging as a hopeless period of decline and decay (that would be an ageist viewpoint), but it still measures aging according to an external yardstick. As I finish my career in the ideal environment in which to redefine aging, I look forward to spreading the message among my peers and among the younger generations during the years that I have left… and to keep playing with whomever I please.
Oliver Hazan – VP Sales & Marketing, Cross Keys Village