AgingCT

Aging isn’t a problem or a disease. Everyone’s doing it, from newborns to 99-year-olds, and more of us are doing more of it: there are more healthy adults than ever before in human history. Why is this remarkable achievement often depicted as a “gray tsunami” of incapacitated olders? Because of ageism—discrimination on the basis of age, a prejudice against our future selves. “Solve for ageism,” says activist ASHTON APPLEWHITE, and we also address sexism (aging is gendered), ableism (we’re afraid of losing our physical or cognitive capacity), and racism (which denies to multitudes the chance to age at all). The author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism and a TED mainstage speaker, Ashton is a leading voice of the emerging anti-ageism movement. Warm, funny, and straight-talking, Ashton describes her journey from apprehensive fifty-something to pro-aging radical, debunking myths and stereotypes along the way. Ashton calls aging “a powerful, fascinating, lifelong process that unites us all,” and guarantees that after listening to her, you’ll feel a whole lot better about the years ahead.

Ashton Applewhite asks us to challenge the forces that frame two-thirds of life as decline and some lives as more valuable than others. “It’s not ethical—or legal—to allocate resources by race or sex,” she points out, “and weighing the needs of the young against the old is equally unacceptable. Period.” She helps audiences perceive age bias between our ears and in the world around us; explains why age is a key criterion for diversity; teaches organizations how to reap the rewards of a mixed-age workforce; and shows why age belongs alongside race, gender, sexuality, and other identifiers that require us to think deeply and inclusively about how we live.

In a world of longer lives, the stakes are high and the time is now. In 2020, the World Economic Forum recognized the global community’s “role and responsibility to combat ageism.” In 2021, the World Health Organization launched its Global Campaign to Combat Ageism. In 2022, Ashton appeared on the first international edition of 40 over 40 – The World’s Most Inspiring Women because global conversations about equity can no longer overlook age.

Ashton’s trailblazing book, This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, was listed as one of the “100 Best Books to Read at Every Age” by the Washington Post and named by Forbes As one of “10 Books To Help You Foster a More Diverse and Inclusive Workplace.” This Chair Rocks explores the roots of ageism and how it divides us, examines how ageist stereotypes affect our bodies and minds, and lays out a road map for what an all-age-friendly world could look like. It ends with a rousing call to action, which Library Journal called “a spark for social change.” Ashton is fanning this spark into a blaze of social revoluton and transformation, encouraging us to cultivate age-neutral mindsets and envision the immense possibilities of age equity—in our professional lives, in our communities, and in ourselves.

In 2022, Ashton has appeared on HelpAgeUSA’s inaugural 60 Over 60 list of Americans “who are making significant contributions to society at the local, national or international level”; Fe:maleOneZero’s first international edition of 40 over 40 – The World’s Most Inspiring Women (referenced above), a group of “extraordinary women who have one thing in common: they change the world for the better”; and received the prestigious Maggie Kuhn Award for being a “visionary leader, author and advocate in combating ageism.” She has written for Harper’s, the New York Times, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, and has spoken at venues that range from community centers and universities to the TED main stage and the United Nations.