#age discrimination

[sighed-the-snake]

At what age does it become intolerable to participate in online fandom?

At what age do you start telling people they're too old to be in a public fandom space because it skews young?

I have been online since the literal beginning of the internet. I've been in chatrooms in one form or another for my entire life, without issue, without anyone telling me I don't belong there. It has been my primary mode of socialization since I was 14. Some of the most important people in my life are people I met online.

But then I turned 40 and suddenly, my presence in a chatroom is creepy.

It wasn't creepy when I was 35 and I was the admin for a huge Discord server full of mostly teens and 20-somethings. Nobody complained when I was 35. They called me their server mom.

But 40 is apparently the limit. I tried to join a few public Discord servers last year and was politely shooed away each time because I was honest about my age.

The obvious solution would be to find spaces with people my own age, right? Except those don't really exist. If it's a fandom space, the overwhelming majority of people are going to be teens, 20-somethings, and a small population of younger 30-somethings. Those are the people who are talking about the things I also would like to talk about.

Even the people I follow here on Tumblr are mostly in their 20s.

There is not much of an online peer group for older Millennials and Gen X. I found and tried some non-fandom, general servers, and they were desolate and stale. A lot of us grew up without computers at home, barely even had computers at school, so the internet never really became a big part of our lives beyond things like Facebook, or Twitter, or discussion boards. Things you spend a few minutes looking over before bed.

But I don't want those things. Tumblr has been great, the Good Omens fandom has been amazing, but I don't want to check throughout the day if someone has replied to something I said hours or days or weeks ago, I want to talk to people, but those places are populated by an age group who tells me it's not appropriate for me to be there anymore.

It's so damn frustrating and lonely. I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not doing anything wrong. I just got older.

I'm just a married gay woman with a kid in school who wants to giggle over an angel and a demon and how in love and stupid they are. I feel like it shouldn't be this hard.

[maedelin]

Just wondering, folks. Have you ever considered, with all the lives and thoughts in Rogue's head, she's lived centuries more than him? I mean, since that seems to be an extremely large part of the argument I'm seeing. I just don't understand. No one argues about this with pretty much every other character set out there. Thor/Quite a few of the Terrans he's loved, Steve/Anyone that is from the Silent Generation (Pre-1928) and on, RoLo, Mystique/Maybe anyone and everyone at this point, IDK how old she is. Or...

[cazort]

I find it very weird how so many people on Tumblr nowadays are like "age in bio or I block you" and it makes me wonder if these people have any experience living as an adult in the real world. These people never explain the rationale behind their demands.

Like 99% of the places I go it would be considered rude, socially awkward, and sometimes even creepy to ask another person their age, especially an adult. People can be touchy about age for a variety of reasons, most of which come down to some type of discrimination or bias which can go both for being old or being young.

Businesses or other organizations with legal cutoffs for age or other valid reasons to know a person's age will do so discreetly and only when needed. Most of the time the business doesn't even know or record the person's age, they just want to check whether or not it is over some sort of legal limit, like 21 for purchasing alcohol or 18 for a lot of other things, or older or younger cutoffs for a few other things. (Related: I'm fine with people saying their blog is for 18+ and they are 18+, or similarly, if minors say they don't want to interact with people 18+. There are good reasons for people posting about certain topics to want such restrictions and that's not what this post is about!)

Age can also be a sensitive topic for trans and gender-nonconforming people. We trans people often have a more complex relationship to age, especially people who pursue HRT but even those who don't, often experience a "second puberty" where we go through changes including both physical changes and social / mental / lifestyle changes that involve exploring various aspects of life and gender-expression, and we often do this a lot later for the gender we identify as, than our cis counterparts do. Gender also affects how people see us, like I notice that people often think I am younger than I am because of "feminine" presentation choices that I make, and this is less likely when I present more masculinely (such as if I don't shave my face), and I've noticed that people with more strongly pronounced sex characteristics (like facial hair, a deep voice, or a curvy build with big breasts and hips) are often seen as older than they are, especially in their younger years, whereas people with more androgynous builds and features are more likely to be read as younger. I've repeatedly had people tell me I'm lying about my age when I am being 100% honest, so it's like, displaying my age sometimes opens me up to negativity and harassment from people who think I'm lying. So again, all of this can be sensitive for us trans and GNC people, so demanding ages is likely to bring up more sense of weirdness and conflict for trans people, especially since a lot of us have people read our ages very wrong, just based on how we look, and because also people can judge us for "age inappropriate" behaviors as adults, which interacts with how we trans people are often viewed as "creepy". So demanding ages in bios is going to be harder on trans people and thus comes across as somewhat anti-trans and cisnormative, especially when it comes from cis people who show no understanding of trans people's issues. And I've noticed these are most of the people demanding ages in bios.

There are also other reasons not to want to share your age. People under 18, or even younger (or much older) people who are over 18, also might not want to advertise their age because it might attract predatory behavior or other unwanted attention. Younger and elderly people alike are often targetted with scams. And in general, age is yet one more potentially valuable piece of personal data that scammers are interested in collecting so it's not a good idea to just put it out in plain view on the internet for any stranger to be able to see and collect.

Demanding ages in bios is also totally unnecessary and doesn't seem to have any benefits. Tumblr already has built-in measures for marking content and/or blogs as NSFW. Anyone can lie about their age so demanding people put ages in their bio does nothing and may even create a false sense of security surrounding interactions where a person's age is relevant.

Also, so many people will update their bio once and then never change it. Like one person I follow, whose blog is very active, has had the same age listed in their bio for like 7 years, so the figures shown are often wrong just out of sheer negligence. And this is okay, like I'm not gonna run around policing people like "You have to update your blog bio or I'm gonna unfollow you!" what kind of uptight authoritarian bullshit would that be?

And like what are people even expecting to accomplish with this sort of demand? I just don't get it.

Here's how I think about ages in bio:

I don't care whether or not you put it there.

If I don't know you, I'm gonna take whatever number you put there with a grain of salt because I know you could be deliberately lying, or just never updating your bio.

Even if I trust your listed age is accurate, I don't really want to think about it very much. Ageism is a thing and people can have biases both against younger and against older people. I want to see everyone the way they are, not based on my preconceived notions about them. Things like maturity, wisdom, naivety, immaturity, experience or inexperience, will speak for themselves and manifest in different ways, and I want to focus on who you are and what you say and do, not some number that gives me an impression of how you "should" think at your age. If you have the maturity of a middle-schooler, I don't care if you're 55 I'm not gonna give your perspective special treatment. If you have something intelligent to say or some deep insight, and the idea speaks for itself, I'm gonna listen to you no matter how young (or old) you are.

If you demand ages in bios it makes me conclude you are probably not someone who is safe for me to interact with, even if you theoretically would want to interact with me (which you probably don't because I have never put my age in my bio.) As someone who has experienced sometimes severe ageism both for people judging me for being too young, or too old, in certain situations, it tells me you are out-of-touch with IRL social norms and are willing to impose new norms that 99% of people would find rude, and that you're probably the kind of person who would make negative or untruthful snap judgments about me for all sorts of reasons, probably not just age, and therefore that I don't want to interact with.

So yeah. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.s

[talkteav]

Episode Quote: Benson

Benson: The mansion's trusted Gardner, against his will, is forced into retirement due to the state's mandatory retirement age. Can Benson help him keep his job?

Quest For Retire: Season 4 Episode 5 Aired Nov 12, 1982 📺

Episode Quote: "It is easy to ignore the problems of the other fellow, but when it comes to age discrimination, someday, each of us will be the other fellow."

- Benson DuBois

[brettdoesdiscourse]

In the same way older people face invalidation for their feelings and hobbies, younger people also face invalidation for their feelings and hobbies. And the real enemy here is society because they're the ones who pit ages against one another.

Telling older people that young people are emotional, they're cringy, they don't know what they actually want, they'll grow out of everything, etc.

Telling younger people that age is something to be feared because older people are out of touch, bitter, should be focused on their jobs/lives, they're past the point of being able to have fun, etc.

If you're invalidating anyone based on their age, it's a bad thing.

[rebelandrichgirl]

Is it age discrimination that this duvet cover is sold as CHILDRENS bedcloths?

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/thoughts-on-invictus/

Thoughts On Invictus*

Surrounded by books in a well-trafficked bookstore, I sat down to coffee with a former student.  We’ve been meeting this way for many years.  By now, he is in his early 70s while I am staring down at 87.  Happily, we are both in robust health, and I always look forward to our conversations, particularly on that day as he’d recently returned from a year in Japan.  As he related his experiences about life aboard, I noted he spoke in a  booming voice as though his words needed to carry to the back of a large hall. As we were seated at a  pedestal table no more than 3 feet apart, I took exception. “Why are you yelling at me? I can hear you perfectly well.”    My companion paused, his features creased in a puzzled expression. “I’m sorry.  I thought you might be hard of hearing.” He was right in his assumption.  I am hard of hearing which is why I wear earbuds that are as expensive as diamonds but without the glamor. At 104, my mother could hear a fly drop on a marshmallow at twenty paces.  Sadly,  I follow in my father’s footsteps.  His hearing loss began in his 50s. Even so, he refused to see a doctor and seemed to delight in forcing friends and family to shout at him. Rejecting his example, I take pity on those around me and wear my hearing aids when I’m in public.  The doctor says I should wear them all the time, but they make my ears itch.  In any case, my point about the difference between my mother and father makes one thing clear.  People don’t age in the same way.  Hopefully, my mother’s genes will bestow a long and healthy life on me but science gives me no assurance.  Genes, they say, have a  10-35% influence on longevity.  The rest depends on diet and exercise.    Those born at the tag end of the Baby Boomers and the generations that followed probably see 80-somethings as prehistoric.  Born before the advent of television, we are folks presumed to live in the shadows, figures bent like candy canes who shuffle about unobtrusively with the aid of wheelchairs, walkers, or canes.  Would it surprise them to learn that  Helen Mirren, age 78 and two years younger than President Joe Biden, made 5 films this year? (“Up/front Watch,” AARP, Aug/Sept. 2023, pg. 12.)   Or, that in his two years in office, Biden has fulfilled so many campaign promises historians predict he will be remembered as one of the country’s ablest presidents?  Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia’s Republican member of Congress, disagrees with that assessment.  She roots for Donald Trump,  age 77,  to win the 2024 Presidential election.  Not only blind to Trump’s age, his previous presidential failures, and the many court indictments pending against him, she insists a higher power works in his favor. God has plans much bigger than this.  (“They Said What?” FreeTought Today, September 2030, pg. 2)  If the past is a prelude to the future, I shudder to think what these plans may be. True, a significant swathe of the country shares Greene’s view.  Like her, they don’t have the force of the pulpit behind them, but they claim to know God’s will and are determined by means fair or foul to convert the rest of us to their religiosity. They proselyte on social media, shout their hallelujahs over public school and prison speakers (Ibid pgs. 5-6), as well at sporting events–any place where they find a captive audience. Nature thrives on diversity, but their God demands conformity.  With each book banned from a school or library, these zealots celebrate– as if free will and free thought were worthy of a public hanging.  By degrees, their successes rob the world of color.  Once invention, imagination, and originality become exiles, we find ourselves confined to a grey pallet– a place of shadows where fear and hatred are free to spin their mischief.    The average lifespan for our species is 74 years.  Measured in days, that represents 272,000 sunrises.  Compare this number to the life of our sun which will burn another 4. 57 billion years.  Given the contrast between it and ourselves, a question arises.  Can we afford to be profligate with our brief hour upon the stage? Whether young or old, rather than busying ourselves judging others, we’d do better to contemplate our common destiny and how our actions make either heaven or hell of the earth. The journey each of us takes may be private, yet we know it has public consequences.  A good rule of thumb might be to consider looking inward and holding ourselves accountable for the good or ill we do.  Only when we have shouldered that burden as a compass can we claim to be captains of our souls. *Poem by William Ernest, Henley

[mesrianilawgroup]

No Googling! I'll post the answer when the poll closes.

[kagenoneko]

I came across a job last week that wanted someone who was 55 years or older.

I think the laws allows this to happen.

[sheswears]

I’ve been feeling like a right loser after losing my hairdressing apprenticeship

I keep getting discriminated for my age (32) and noone wants to pay me a fair wage.

It makes me want to give up.

It makes me cry.

I cry every fucking day.

I’m crying right now.

Fucking hell, man!

When will it end?

When will i be back to my old, motivated self?

It feels like…. Never.

@texas_geordie_hair

[sentrient]

What Are Examples Of Age-Based Harassment In The Workplace

Age-based harassment in the workplace is a serious issue that can have a detrimental effect on an individual’s mental and emotional well-being. It can also create a hostile work environment for others and negatively impact a company’s productivity and bottom line. 

Examples of age-based harassment in the workplace include: 

Making derogatory comments or jokes about an individual’s age, such as referring to them as “old timer” or “over the hill.” 

Singling out older employees for demotions or layoffs while keeping younger employees in similar positions. 

Ignoring or belittling the contributions of older employees or failing to provide them with the same opportunities for training and development as their younger counterparts. 

Discriminating against older employees in the hiring process, such as by setting age limits for job applicants or preferring younger candidates for promotions. 

Using age as a pretext for disciplinary action, such as firing an older employee for a minor infraction while overlooking similar behaviour from a younger employee. 

It’s important to note that age-based harassment can happen to both older and younger employees. 

Employers have a legal obligation to prevent and address age-based harassment in the workplace. They should establish a zero-tolerance policy and provide regular training to all employees on what constitutes age-based harassment and how to report it. Employees who experience or witness age-based harassment should report it to their supervisor or human resources department immediately.

In conclusion, age-based harassment is a serious issue that can have adverse effects on employees and the workplace. Employers need to take steps to prevent and address it and for employees to speak up if they experience or witness it.

This blog post was originally published here.

[elliotpsmoke-blog]

Taking inspiration from white, middle-aged men

[muddypolitics]

(via Elon Musk, Who Wants Women to Procreate as Much As Possible, Accused of Discriminating Against Mom Employees – Rolling Stone)

the more you know - the worser it gets

[random-illuminations]

The older generation has so much to give

The aging population in the world has been cast aside, and modern society looks upon the older generations as disposable. Politicians see the elderly as a financial burden due to social security and Medicare costs and have forgotten the many years of work and taxes the older generation had contributed to our great nation. The saddest part of all is that the good part of those wanting to do away…

[squaredawayblog]

Older borrowers are rejected for mortgage refinancing at higher rates than Black and Hispanic applicants.

[bopinion]

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