Ageism is Old-Fashioned

I'm in my 40s and I refuse to grow old.  My parents are in their 80s.  I had a great aunt who took up creative writing at 92.  She died last year at 96.

Recently I did in-door mountain climbing and wanted to do it again.  So much fun!

Yes, I had an out-door mountaineering accident recently but think this: 

• I didn't break anything. In fact, because I swim regularly, I had built up muscles along my back and they protected my spine and ribs when I fell 15 feet.  Yes, at least 15 feet.
  
• One of the ambulance people I had a great chat with, knew if I was told by the climbing instructor to wear gloves, I wouldn't have rope burns (hence my hands have been bandaged up until recently).
• A nurse changing the dressings on my hands said I was healing faster than usual.

When I read the newspaper and online reports and I look at TV programmes I look at the ages of people.

There are older people who are TV news presenters, older judges on TV talent shows, celebrities getting married and adopting children in their 50s, older experts on medical and social issues so...

Why do we still have ageism?

Another situation are the increasing rights and respects for women.  In the UK, medical technology, the uncertainty in the work market and the instability of present relationships have also had age effects in birth.  Referring to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Helen Briggs from the BBC writes:

• The average age of mothers in 2013 increased to 30.0 years, compared with 29.8 years in 2012

• The smallest decreases in fertility were for women aged 35-39 and 40 and over

• Despite these small declines in 2013, the fertility rate for women aged 40 and over has nearly trebled since 1991, while for women aged 35-39 fertility has increased by 84% over this period
• The stillbirth rate fell in 2013, to 4.7 per 1,000 births, compared with 4.9 in 2012.

We also know that people are living longer.  According to the ONS, life expectancy for children born in 2013 is

• 90.7 for men.
• 94.0 for women.
  

One in three babies born today will celebrate their 100th birthday...

We know retirement ages are rising and will continue to rise as people live longer.

Sci-fi series which are often the predictor for future events.  In Star Trek DS9 a women in her late 20s/early 30s mentions that her mum just celebrated her 100th birthday... Not so unrealistic...

So why are people still ageist?  I don't have issues with age.  In fact I know of age differences in several friends' relationships are irrelevant.  One couple I know has an age difference of 20 years.  They've been together for about 35 years... A close friend of mine had just started a relationship and they're both in their 50s.

But many employers are slow to take account of societies' Diversity.  Even though it makes business sense to be diverse and therefore be more flexible.  Many companies are still unaware of their legal vulnerabilities like in the UK Equality Act 2010 or the UK Public Services Act 2013.

Too many people are also still having old-fashioned prejudices shown in areas I'm involved with regarding Hate Crimes.

Age?  Here's a saying: "The person who doesn't remember the mistakes of the past is doomed to repeat them."

Something we should remember.