Zoe’s World: Age Really Is Just A Number

Posted by
Cluse

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Zoe O Connor, who is a finalist in the .eu Web Awards 2016

THE earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. The human race began around 2 million years ago.

So, relative to all of that, at my ripe 17 years, you could say that I am pretty young. But does that mean that I am incapable? I don’t think so.

I began working at the young age of 6 months old (a shoot for an insurance firm, oddly enough). I’m not going to say that I have been working since then or anything – but I haven’t been completely idle.

When I came to an age when my world didn’t revolve around eat, sleep and Barney; I started to really work and I encountered a few things. You could say that my age has always been a bit of a roadblock in terms of being regarded as incompetent.

Thankfully, I think I have achieved a state where my age is seen as an advantage. Perhaps I’ve proved that I am capable. But what about all the others who are seen as incapable?

Age is still an issue that crops up, whether you are seen as ‘too young’ and without experience or ‘too old’ and set in your ways.

‘Age is just a number’ is a phrase that doesn’t just apply when you are consoling those women entering their 30’s or 40’s. It is actually true. I don’t think that your age should be the measure of what you can or can’t do.

Look at Donald Trump – just because he’s seventy doesn’t exactly mean that he has been collecting seventy years of wisdom. I think a lot of people half his age hold a lot more intelligent opinions…

I do agree that people who have lived a longer life span tend to garner more life experience. But should some people be ruled out of certain positions or treated with less respect just because they are younger? I don’t think so.

Then there is Madonna, who is like the Joan of Arc in defying ageism. I myself have cringed at some of her grill-wearing twerking endeavours but it doesn’t mean that she isn’t ‘allowed’ to do them.

She looks pretty damn good and if the average 20 year old can do it, I guess she can too. Should she be branded with words like “mutton dressed as lamb” or “Granny Madge”? No, I don’t think she should.

This particular line of criticism tends to revolve around women’s looks as they get older – and not so much on men’s. I guess that’s an argument for another day.. But you can see why botox ‘consumption’ (for lack of a better word) is on the up.

Too young or too old – who cares? Age is just a number. It should not dictate how you act or how you dress or what jobs you get or how you are treated. All in the name of equality.

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