Opinion: If we respected the wisdom, the experience, and the maturity of our elders, we wouldn’t so desperately wish to deny our own age | KerriSackville
Age is irrelevant, we cry. Age is a state of mind! You are only as young as you feel.
Numbers are important. They help us to measure things, and to make sense of the world. And age is important because it helps us to make sense of ourselves and of other people. Mind the gap: Woody Allen, left, escorted by his much younger wife Soon-Yi Previn at the Cannes Film Festival, 2005.Because our age reflects our stage of life, we have different expectations of different age groups. We expect more from an 18-year-old than a 12-year-old. We are surprised when a 21-year-old owns their own home, and equally surprised when an 81-year-old is working full time.
Age is definitely not just a number when it comes to a woman’s fertility or to a person’s physical health. You can get Botox and fillers until you look like a bowling ball with eyes, but you will still be menopausal. You can date a 20-year-old, but you will still need to do your bowel cancer test at 50.People who protest that age is just a number are often, I believe, making a statement of defiance. They don’t want to be reined in by society’s limiting expectations of older people.