Fran Winandy - Ageism: a new name for an old prejudice

Title:

Ageism: a new name for an old prejudice

Copyright 2022:

Fran Winandy

Graphic design:

Beatriz Albernaz

Total or partial reproduction of this work is prohibited without the authors written consent.

English Edition

2022

ISBN: 978-65-81405-22-9

Adelante is an editorial label of
Gulliver Publisher
www.gullivereditora.com.br

I dedicate this book to you,
Who is with me in this fight against ageism.

You, who know that you are a potential victim of this terrible prejudice.

You, who do not idly stand by in the face of injustice.

You, who feel uncomfortable with the unfair numbers
Of Diversity within Organizations.

It is you who I invite to walk a new path with me!

How old am I?

I have the age when dreams start to caress you
with their fingers and illusions turn to hope

I have the age when love sometimes is a crazy flame,
eager to be consumed in the fire of a desired passion
And in other times, a haven of peace, like a sunset on the beach.

How old am I? I do not have to give them a number because
my achieved desires, my tears shed
along the way, when I saw my illusions shattered...

They are worth much more than that.

It doesn't matter if I turn twenty, forty, or sixty!
What matters is how old I feel.

I have the age needed to live free and without fear.

To fearlessly follow the path as I carry on with me acquired experience
and the strength of my desires.

How old am I? It doesn't matter to anyone!

I have the age to lose my fear and do what I want and feel.

- Jos Saramago

PREFACE

My first reaction when Fran Winandy invited me to write this preface was to go on the internet and see how much the terms Ageism or Age Bias appear on the networks here in Brazil, in which contexts, and also to check if there were publications in this area.

This research only confirmed the relevance and urgency of this book because my search clearly showed how far we are from understanding the pain and delight, as that 60 plus years old named Caetano Veloso says about getting old in Brazil:

Your health insurance increases abusively; companies carry out compulsory layoffs, and even public transport is no longer free - at least in the city of So Paulo - among other perversities.

The good news: this same 60 plus years old audience is connected, experienced, and realizes that they know how to mobilize to achieve better conditions for aging with dignity.

Well, getting old is a right that must be guaranteed!

Yes, if 60 is the new 40!, lets use all this mobilizing power to change the references that exist about aging into the the best age because this, in many ways, is fake news and, also, evidence of the prejudices that surround the act of aging and the 60 plus years old population, known as AGEISM.

The good news? We can solve this, and this book is a great starting point, with data and inspiration, so that actions can be taken by the 60 plus years old community to change this culture built on images from commercials that do not represent the reality.

If today we live longer, it is necessary to join forces to ensure that these extra years are productive, dignified, and, above all, fun, creative and mobilizing!

Because, in ten years, people over 60 years will be more than 50% of the Brazilian people!

And, if we want to achieve the desired future, it will not be through cuteness but activism!

Change today to turn desires into achievements tomorrow.

Co-create and have fun doing it. Make some noise, go out on the streets, and raise awareness to generate a change in mental model and behavior regarding aging in contemporary times in this country called Brazil.

We have plenty of good examples in all areas! But it is necessary to go further in today's complex world; it is necessary to MOBILIZE people, and authorities, be true activists, and put our knowledge, experience, and voice on the streets, on the web, really make some noise, get recognition for the cause!

Rock and Roll on the way to 100 million voices turning dreams into achievements!

Because we have made a lot of history in this world, we have opened many trails, changed many lives, and more than ever, we will continue to do this, only now, with more data, certainty, knowledge, and a lot of attraction, because we will use time and life to conquer the right to cause good transformations!

"We're going to need everyone
One plus one is always more than two
To conquer the new life

- O Sal da Terra, by Beto Guedes.

Wellington Nogueira, Social Entrepreneur, Actor, and Clown, recently premiered

Proudly in the 60th year of his life, realizing that this is just the beginning!

INTRODUCTION

I was 6 or 7 years old; I really don't remember. We lived in Po, a city in the interior of So Paulo, where my father managed a textile factory called Brasilana. Our house was at the back of the factory, and our fun was to ride our bikes on the forbidden paths inside of it: whenever we had a break, we would sneak in with our bikes, savoring the incredible feeling of doing something illegal!

My childhood was very good! We played with the dogs, rode bikes, and ate the fruit directly from the trees!

I went to school at about that age: Batura School Group. In the first days of school, playing with the children at recess, a group of boys approached me and asked me why I had white hair. I didn't know. As a matter of fact, I had never noticed that my hair was different from others. They came closer, ran their hands over my hair, moved away, and began teasing me: "Old lady! Old lady! She's old!"

I cried deeply. I had a problem; I was different from everyone else. I felt isolated. Every day, history repeated itself. It took me a while to tell my mother the reason for my sadness at home. Before she could do anything, I took advantage of her carelessness, grabbed the scissors, and locked myself in the room; I cut as much as I could of my hair that embarrassed me so much! I didn't want to be old.

The moment above was possibly my first negative contact with the issue of aging. Until that moment, the sporadic, but intense contact with my grandparents who lived in Belgium, especially my maternal grandmother, only brought back good memories: I saw the elderly as good, fun, and loving people! Still, the distance of the age between us was clear. Seeing myself as a precocious old woman was a shock that took a while for me to digest.

I didn't think about it until, at the beginning of my professional life, I was responsible for structuring a Retirement Preparation Program at the Bank where I worked, where retirement was compulsory. Once again, I came across a difficult side of aging: the moment when people were placed on the margins of society, forced to leave the job market, and return to their quarters. Improving that moment became an obsession for me. It wasn't fair that those people had to stop everything and wait for death to come. I needed to show them that there was a possible and interesting life beyond the Bank.

But I faced prejudice from the other side; after all, I was just a third of the age of the people who were going to retire, and just a few of them took my commitment and work seriously. I faced this problem of lack of credibility for being too young at several other moments in my career due to my rapid professional development, but I only understood that this was a form of discrimination later when I came to study the subject.

Throughout my trajectory in the Human Resources department, I saw several manifestations of companies against older people. I lost count of the times I questioned this posture, but I still saw the problem as someone else's, someone in a different position than mine.