Yes, we’re having an Awards Ceremony on Nov 23rd at Hoxton Hall and they will be fun, flamboyant and fierce. And there will be dancing to reggae and world music by two of our wonderful members who are both DJs, Becca Leathlean and Debbie Golt.
Yes, these awards are to celebrate getting older with panache, grit and humour along with the odd huge pink feather. Yes, they are to bring our Advantages of Age tribe together so that we can all actually get to know one another. And feel the warmth of community.
But why are they so necessary?
Because when you feel like an outsider as an oldster in a society pervaded by an eternal youth obsession – you need a tribe. You need the friendliness and connection and the laughter when all the media (social and mainstream newspapers etc) inform you that to old is wrong. Don’t do it, they say. Don’t let it happen. Fight with filters. Fight with fillers. Fight that descent into the underworld of ageing – the wrinkles, the sag, the menopausal belly, the manpause grump – with everything you’ve got from HRT to bio-identicals, from Viagra to silly cars.
No, we disagree. We’re not going to fight getting older, we are embracing it all with a glorious fuck it attitude. It’s happening so we might as well face into it. With the fields of kindness as AofA contributor supreme, Caroline Bobby, would say.
Ageism is the invisible ism. Discrimination based on age is rampant. Particularly in the workplace. Being made redundant. Being made to feel redundant. Being constantly side-lined for younger work colleagues. Being treated as a dinosaur. Suzanne Noble and Mark Elliott founded Start Up School for Seniors in order to support older people – who are no longer in work or tired of the work they do, and have a great idea for a business – to create their dream business. It has been incredibly successful. For Over 50s who are bit lost, this online programme has created a dynamic, business-like cohort of entrepreneurs. And that’s the idea.
Meanwhile over at the AofA FB group, Advantages of Age – Babyboomers and Beyond – we often rage about Age Discrimination. This often, invisible prejudice. The insidious and often unspoken prongs of ageism. The jobs that come to an end when you’re freelance and older without a word being spoken. It happened to me around freelance journalism. It gradually dried up and younger journalists got the jobs. I was considered evidently no longer relevant. It happened to my friend who worked in fashion as a stylist, she hit 60 and the work disappeared overnight. This was nothing to do with her talents and capabilities, and everything to do with perception and youngism.
And we’re not the only ones. There’s a wealth of talent out there that has been discarded and piled on the rubbish tip. How does that feel? Well, shit, actually. Because we know we’re all still steaming along full of passion and ideas. And to be frank, many of our tribe are not willing to put up with this kind of treatment. They have found ways to creatively fight the discrimination. They’ve become theatre directors, artists, death doulas, poets, DJs, travellers, roamers, photographers, co-housing initiators, writers. They’ve found ways to get grants, to find alternative employment, to set up new enterprises.
And we want to make it quite clear. Well, actually we’d like to shout from the rafters. WE’RE PROUD OF YOU ALL AND SO WE’RE GOING TO CELEBRATE YOU AND OURSELVES WITH THIS AWARDS CEREMONY.
As we get older – and society is so PERVASIVELY ageist from patronising remarks to insinuations of frailty – it’s important to come together and connect. To feel that we are a community and therefore our confidence can’t be dented.
And most significantly to honour what you’re all doing. The amazingly uplifting personal stories from Nadia Chambers and the way she’s handled a very difficult autoimmune disease and the endless treatments and that she goes cold water swimming, running and walking: or from Ruth Fox who goes on wild travelling solo adventures in the UK in her faithful estate car to immerse herself in the magical landscapes; or to my partner, Asanga Judge who had a horrific rock climbing accident at 51, walks with a stick yet still climbs sea rocks and abseils at 80. There are many similar stories in the group, amazing stories of finding ways to live a rich life as we get older.
There are so many of you to acknowledge and honour. And there are also outside charities and activists that deserve our attention and appreciation. You will find out who they all are when you see the shortlists.
It’s been exhausting but also exhilarating creating the categories – from Style King to Rock n’Roll Artist with the most Glorious Getting Older Attitude – and then finding the nominations inside and outside of AofA. It was fascinating but not altogether surprising that the categories with the most votes were Style Queen and Rockn’Roll Artist with the most Glorious Getting Older Attitude.
The category with the most men replying was Most Innovative Place To Be Buried or Cremated. The responses were hilarious and a bit shocking. A bit terrifying at times. Wait until you see them all. You might have to close your eyes. No, really, they were spectacularly innovative.
The category I personally enjoyed the most is – AofA Contributor – because there are so many of you that wrote brilliant, personal, moving, funny articles for us. And we really appreciate them and you. This category is a way to say thank you very much.
And there will be moments when we call out ageism. In all its different forms. And there is one category – Most Ageist Headlines where we find the worst offenders and startle you with their crudeness on the Granny front. Oh yes, – I wrote about it for the Guardian and it’s still going on like crazy.
Ageism is pervasive in that it’s everywhere often as an undercurrent that corrodes. We do need to be loud in our condemnation and acute in our calling out. Eleven million of us are over 65 in the UK, which means we have a big voice. Let’s use it not only to jump up and down to It’s Raining Men and We are Family, but also to make ageism more self-evident to people, organisations and the media.
Come on down, celebrate and dance on Nov 23rd at Hoxton Hall, 8 pm. Dress Code – Flamboyant Forever. Please be ready to mingle. And dance.
Buy your tickets here.
