Ideas worth spreading

1,776,494 views | Ashton Applewhite • TED2017

Laten we ophouden met leeftijdsdiscriminatie

Het is niet het voortschrijden van de tijd die het ouder worden zo moeilijk maakt. Het is leeftijdsdiscriminatie, een vooroordeel dat ons opzet tegen ons toekomstige zelf -- en tegen elkaar. Ashton Applewhite dringt er op aan om die angst tegen te gaan en te mobiliseren tegen het laatste sociaal aanvaardbare vooroordeel. "Veroudering is geen probleem dat we moeten oplossen of een ziekte die we moeten genezen," zegt ze. "Het is een natuurlijk, krachtig, levenslang proces dat ons allen verenigt."

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It starts between your ears: how do you feel about your own aging? What messages have you absorbed over the years? Look at where they come from. Think about what purpose they serve. Learn about longevity. Start a consciousness-raising group. Question the mainstream narrative. Speak up when you encounter ageist behavior or attitudes. Join forces with olders and youngers to make ageism as unacceptable as any other form of prejudice — and to dismantle them all.

Het is niet het voortschrijden van de tijd die het ouder worden zo moeilijk maakt. Het is leeftijdsdiscriminatie, een vooroordeel dat ons opzet tegen ons toekomstige zelf -- en tegen elkaar. Ashton Applewhite dringt er op aan om die angst tegen te gaan en te mobiliseren tegen het laatste sociaal aanvaardbare vooroordeel. "Veroudering is geen probleem dat we moeten oplossen of een ziekte die we moeten genezen," zegt ze. "Het is een natuurlijk, krachtig, levenslang proces dat ons allen verenigt."

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

It starts between your ears: how do you feel about your own aging? What messages have you absorbed over the years? Look at where they come from. Think about what purpose they serve. Learn about longevity. Start a consciousness-raising group. Question the mainstream narrative. Speak up when you encounter ageist behavior or attitudes. Join forces with olders and youngers to make ageism as unacceptable as any other form of prejudice — and to dismantle them all.

About the speaker

Ashton Applewhite

Author, activist

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Ashton Applewhite asks us to look at ageism -- the assumption that older people are alike and that aging impoverishes us.

Ashton Applewhite | Networked Books, 2016 | Book

This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism

My book explains where ageism comes from, describes the damage it does, shows what an all-age-friendly world might look like, and concludes with a call to action. You’ll find what one reader dubbed "lightbulb moments" on almost every page, and it’s fun to read. Don’t take my word for it; check out the reviews.

Margaret Morganroth Gullette | University of Chicago Press, 2011 | Book

Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism in America

Written by the renowned cultural critic who coined the term "age studies," this book that radicalized me by placing ageism in a social and economic context. Two favorite quotes: "Enticements to look younger—like enticements to look whiter or thinner—could finally be rejected as bigotry," and “Cultures truly interested in pleasure don’t romanticize inexperience.”

Margaret Cruikshank | Rowman & Littlefield, 2009 | Book

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"Aging is a process socially constructed as a problem," writes age scholar Peg Cruikshank, who examines the class bias behind terms like "successful" and "productive" aging, debunks the myth that an aging population threatens the non-old, and critiques the medicalization of old age. We don’t reduce childhood and middle age to physical conditions; why do it later on?

Robert N. Butler | PublicAffairs, 2008 | Book

The Longevity Revolution

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Generations, the Journal of the American Society on Aging | Fall 2015 | Article

"Ageism in America: Reframing the Issues and Impact"

Mainstream takes on ageism in the US today, how it affects our well-being and our wallets, and which research and policy agendas would reduce age discrimination.

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Anti-ageism resources

How to start a consciousness-raising group (this powerful tool catalyzed the women’s movement), become a chapter of the Radical Age movement, run a workshop, raise awareness, start a community dialogue, find allies, and learn more.

Learn more