Age-positivity is embedded in privilege

The dual reality of growing old

Photo by Zuzu Valla

This morning as I sipped my coffee I was drawn into the evolving conversation on ageing through various notifications on my social media. Age and old age seemed to be the topic of the day. First the news that I was featured in a magazine spread bluntly titled Old, alongside two younger models. There I was, embracing my old age, longevity being the theme explored by the clothes collection of IA London. I am a granny in real life so this did not unduly ruffle me. I was perplexed by the bluntness of the title, but bluntness is not a sin.

Then a post about a campaign by New Aegis which is injecting humanity in perceptions of ageing, by using the tag ‘future old person’ on a series of video-images marking different moments in one’s life - we are all ageing, the babies of today (unless they die before they get old), will be the older people of tomorrow. While still reflecting on the import of this campaign, I stumbled upon a discussion about a snippet of an interview …