Adultocracy: The social convention which defines "maturity" and "immaturity," placing adults in a dominant position over young people, both theoretically and practically. - (from Wikipedia)
Ever since childhood, I have dealt with ageism. Mainly because of the fact that I didn't not have the "normal" childhood. I didn't watch cartoons on saturday morning, I watched news and college football. My dad is a doctor, so laying around on the floor of our house would be copies of the New England Journal of Medicine, which at a young age, I was reading and comprehending with no issue. I could have probably gone on to become a doctor before even having to shave my face, but my mom made the smart and logical decision to not have me skip grades and develop social interaction with kids my age. (Plus, I hated blood as a child, thus didn't want to be in the medical field)
(Sidenote: My mom is 57 and my dad is 74.)
I grew up with old parents and I was an only child. This lead to a lot of summer days indoors and great reports from first hand accounts of Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement. However, this made interacting with children my age extremely hard. My favorite movies growing up were the James Bond films (for some reason I liked Roger Moore a bit more than Sean Connery) Try being 6 years old talking to a kid about how awesome "Moonraker" was. It's like catching bees with chopsticks in the dark.
Throughout the years, this became more and more difficult and as I am now 23 years and 1 month old, I still deal with Ageism, but from two different angles.
Most of my friends are older, between the ages of 25-34. I tend to connect with older individuals, mainly because I, too, enjoy nice fitting suits, wearing a timepiece, drinking well-aged whiskey and understanding the cultural appeal of TV shows such as The Sopranos and Sex and the City.
Even with this, I try my best not to alienate my "age box" of 18-23, but as I enter the cusp of changing boxes, it gets harder to connect to the masses that tune into The Jersey Shore, and think that Skrillex and LMFAO are the kings of dance music (that's just a sick thought, no matter how old you are)
What kills me more than anything else is when I'm talking with someone older, and they ask how old I am. I'll say 23, and they'll reply with something like "Oh, you're so young" or the ultra-condescending "You're just a baby" Correction: I'm a grown ass fucking man. I have my own apartment, my own full time job, hell I fucking Paid Out in taxes last year, tell me how many 23 year olds did that. Call me a baby again, and I'll tell you to stick your hands out so we can see how old you are.
It's very disrespectful to have this stigma of the fact that I'm young, that I have to be like most my age. Get to know me and you will see that I'm not like others my age, and there are plenty of young people who actually know things and have their shit together, just like I know a ton of old-ass people that have never been shit and never will be shit.
Ageism is assumption in its rawest form, and to assume is hazardous. A life lesson you'd think some would learn at a younger age, eh?
Amen Alex, amen. It drives me NUTS when people who are just a few years older than you say stuff like that. "You make me feel so old!" is by far the worst one. I understand I have a lot of life to experience still but please, I take care of myself like any other adult.
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