She’s 51 and works in an industry that worships youth. She doesn’t want anyone at work to know her age because they’ll think she’s old, finished, and irrelevant.
As I listened to this woman at a party Saturday night, I felt torn.
Part of me wanted her to encourage her to stop hiding her age. If those of us who are 50, 60 and beyond don’t let the world know this is what “older” can be, how is our culture ever going to stop our ageism?!?!
Part of me understood and supported the choice she was making in the face of ageism. She wasn’t making this up! She was just doing her best to deal with her situation.
Thanks to years of being a coach, I quickly realized it was her choice to make, let go of my opinions, and just listened.
Our conversation lingers with me though. How sad any of us ever feels the need to be in the closet about our age.
Have you ever felt you needed to hide your age? How did you handle the situation? Click on Comments and write away.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
When I turned 40 I decided to quit lying about my age since I felt and looked better than people younger than me. I know its not the case for everyone . Lying is stressfull so it was just easier. I still have people make ageism comments. I try to be positive and tell them why my life is so much better now (50 years old) than it was at 25. I don’t really even think about it very much unless it comes up. Its true to be an example. Its just like an predjudice ,one needs to be enlightened and see what a person that age really is. Were not all the same, there are young 50 year olds and old ones. The same is true for 25 year olds too!
Carmen, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. It’s true we can be young or old at any age. Just as we can be healthy or unhealthy, happy or unhappy at any age.