Sitting in this space I feel like I should have been aware of Ashton Applewhite and her work a long time ago. Yet my first encounter was with a podcast from Concordia University recorded this summer called “We Are All Aging – Let’s End Ageism.”
Ashton is a writer and public speaker. She speaks widely at venues that have included the United Nations and TED Mainstage where her talk has garnered more than 1 million views. She is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism which has been credited by the United Nations as a catalyst to raise the consciousness of people around the world on what ageism is and what we can do to dismantle it. She is warm, funny, and straight-talking, even on the day of of our chat as she apologised for being exhausted, heart-sick and hungover, the day after the US elections.
To say I was excited to talk to her would be an understatement – and also a little bit nervous. Here was someone that has been pioneering in this space for almost 20 years.
Ashton started her career as an anti-ageism activist twenty years ago.
ASHTON APPLEWHITE TED MAINSTAGE TALK WITH MORE THAN 1 MILLION VIEWS
Ashton was quick to describe her own journey from apprehensive 50-something to pro-aging activist. “I was just as guilty of ageism as everyone else. I was terrified of aging and winding up sitting in a wheelchair in the dementia ward of a long-term care facility. I’m in the workforce and didn’t want to be associated with someone who was aging,” said Ashton. “My aha moment came when I looked at myself and thought – I’m a fact vs fear-based person. I want to know the facts vs fearing the unknown. So being a researcher, I started to research. I investigated the realities of aging and found some really encouraging statistics.”
“The fear of ending up drooling in the hallways of a long-term care facility, well of all the aging population in the US (those over the age of 65), less than 2.5% live in nursing homes. Even for people 85 and older, its less than 9% and those that have Alzheimer’s and require extensive nursing care is only 4%. And what about the sick and helpless? It turns out that over ¾ of the oldest old – ages 85 and up – can go about their everyday activities without any personal assistance. It’s a fact, the vast majority of older Americans live interdependently until they die.” (from This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism)
But what about dementia?
“We’ve all heard horror stories. Developing Alzheimer’s Disease is a terrifying prospect. But even as the population ages, dementia rates are dropping. The real epidemic is anxiety over memory loss and aging. We are anxious.”
“It was with this awareness that I started to look at aging from a different angle. If we are more likely to live out our lives as we have always done, with some adjustments for aging bodies, then why do we fear it so much?”
“It comes from stereotypes.”
I had to respond with “I know what you mean. It’s all over these days, especially for women. If you ask AI to come up with an image of an aging man, it sends you a picture of George Clooney. But for a woman its someone frail, sitting in a rocking chair, isolated with a grey bun and an apron – you know, everyone’s image of a grandmotherly type from the memories of our generation”.
Ashton shows as how examining our common fears and anxieties about aging, such as the fear of ending up in a long-term care facility or developing dementia helps alleviate the anxiety. She argues that these fears are often much larger than the actual reality, and that being better informed about the aging process can help alleviate these fears. She also emphasizes the importance of having a positive attitude towards aging and how it can impact cognitive function.
“There are benefits to aging. I’m grateful I didn’t have to wake to an alarm. It’s the truth; sleeping until you wake up is one of life’s great luxuries and usually the prevue of older people”, says Ashton. “The anxiety we feal towards aging itself makes us more vulnerable to what we fear. There are realities. There is a lot of things about aging that we cannot control. But a study from the AARP proves the more you know about aging, the less fear it holds for you. Instead, it is better if we define and then address Ageism”.
Defining Ageism
Ashton defines ageism as discrimination and stereotyping on the basis of age. She explains that ageism cuts both ways, affecting both younger and older people, and that it is rooted in prejudice, stereotypes, and structural discrimination. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging ageism in all its forms and not dividing the fight against it.
What does Ageism Mean to Society?
“I’ve learned that – because we live in such an ageist world – our fears about growing older are way out of proportion to reality,” says Ashton. “Ageism feeds on denial and our reluctance to acknowledge that we're going to get old. In fact, aging isn't something sad or boring that old people do. We begin aging the minute we're born. All prejudice relies on “othering”—seeing a group of people as “other” than us—other color, other nationality, other religion”.
Successful Aging and Community
Ashton challenges the concept of successful aging, arguing that it is a binary and class-biased term. She instead advocates for the idea of aging in community, where people of all ages can support and help each other as they navigate the aging process. She discusses the importance of having a sense of purpose and social connections as we age, and how this can be facilitated by living in a close-knit community.
“Attitudes towards aging affect how our minds and body’s function,” says Ashton. “Although we can all be happy, carefree people and a change to positive thinking may take a while to manifest, work done by Dr Becca Levy, PhD, Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Psychology at Yale School of Medicine explores psychosocial factors that influence older individuals’ cognitive and physical functioning, as well as their longevity. Becca did the study that shows that attitudes towards aging can reduce the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s even if you have the gene that predisposes you to Alzheimer’s. Positive attitudes towards age beliefs can reverse mild cognitive decline. She has even written a book that shatters some your basic assumptions about aging – “How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You Live: Breaking the Age Code.”
Conclusion
Ashton concludes by discussing the best and worst parts of aging for her personally and shares her goals for continuing to build a movement that frames aging as a lifelong process and mobilizes against ageism at all ages. She emphasizes the importance of intergenerational collaboration and using our power and experiences to support each other as we navigate the aging process.
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