This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism

by Ashton Applewhite

Overview

Author, activist, and TED speaker Ashton Applewhite has written a rousing manifesto calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice on the basis of age.

In our youth obsessed culture, we’re bombarded by media images and messages about the despairs and declines of our later years. Beauty and pharmaceutical companies work overtime to convince people to purchase products that will retain their youthful appearance and vitality. Wrinkles are embarrassing. Gray hair should be colored and bald heads covered with implants. Older minds and bodies are too frail to keep up with the pace of the modern working world and olders should just step aside for the new generation.

Ashton Applewhite once held these beliefs too until she realized where this prejudice comes from and the damage it does. Lively, funny, and deeply researched, This Chair Rocks traces her journey from apprehensive boomer to pro-aging radical, and in the process debunks myth after myth about late life. Explaining the roots of ageism in history and how it divides and debases, Applewhite examines how ageist stereotypes cripple the way our brains and bodies function, looks at ageism in the workplace and the bedroom, exposes the cost of the all-American myth of independence, critiques the portrayal of elders as burdens to society, describes what an all-age-friendly world would look like, and offers a rousing call to action.

It’s time to create a world of age equality by making discrimination on the basis of age as unacceptable as any other kind of bias. Whether you’re older or hoping to get there, this book will shake you by the shoulders, cheer you up, make you mad, and change the way you see the rest of your life. Age pride!

“Wow. This book totally rocks. It arrived on a day when I was in deep confusion and sadness about my age. Everything about it, from my invisibility to my neck. Within four or five wise, passionate pages, I had found insight, illumination, and inspiration. I never use the word empower, but this book has empowered me.”

—Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250311481
Publisher:	Celadon Books
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	662,966
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Author and activist Ashton Applewhite has been recognized by the New York Times, The New Yorker, National Public Radio, and the American Society on Aging as an expert on ageism. She blogs at This Chair Rocks, speaks widely around the world, has written for Harper's and Playboy, and is the voice of Yo, Is This Ageist? In 2016, she joined the PBS site Next Avenue’s annual list of 50 Influencers in Aging as their Influencer of the Year.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Where Ageism Comes From and What It Does

2. Our Ages, Ourselves: Identity

3. Forget Memory: The Older Brain

4. Health, Not Youth: The Older body

5. No Expiration Date: Sex and Intimacy

6. Not Done Yet: The Workplace

7. Long Life Is a Team Sport: The Independence Trap

8. The Bull Looks Different: The End of Life

9. Occupy Age! Beyond Ageism

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

2018-11-07

A satisfying exploration of how growing older offers significant, rich new experiences.

Applewhite (Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well, 1997, etc.), cited by Forbes as one of Forty Women to Watch Over 40, in 2017, argues convincingly that ageism—like racism and sexism—is a form of demeaning prejudice, inaccurately generalizing the experiences of older adults and promoting the idea that old age is repulsive and lonely. Drawing on abundant studies and interviews, she exhorts readers "to wake up to the ageism in and around us, embrace a more nuanced and accurate view of growing older, cheer up, and push back." Stereotypes of old age—geezer, biddy, codger, etc.—convey negativity. "Those stereotypes," she writes, "are ours to reject or subvert on the way to more compelling and accurate aspirational identities." But rejecting such stereotypes should not lead to strategies such as dying hair, applying creams and potions, and taking pills that promise "to erase the trace of time." Applewhite debunks many prevalent assumptions about aging, including failing memory, weakened physical ability, and overall lack of attractiveness and competence. She notes that forgetfulness "is not Alzheimer's, or dementia, or even necessarily a sign of cognitive impairment"; rates of dementia are falling, she has discovered, even as the population is aging. Moreover, especially "in the emotional realm, older brains are more resilient," better able to deal with negative emotions and change. Everyone ages at a different rate, she writes: "There is no line in the sand, no crossover between young and old after which it's all downhill." Viewing 60 or 70—or even 40—as the beginning of the end necessarily has an impact on self-image and outlook. Among the author's suggestions for creating "an all-age-friendly world" are creating increased opportunities for older people to contribute "socially, civically, and economically" to the community; improving research into the biology of aging and the social implications of longevity; and expanding the training of geriatric medical practitioners as well as resources for older learners and workers.

An upbeat, empathetic, and practical guide to becoming "an old person in training."

Kirkus Reviews

One of the “100 Best Books to Read at Any Age.”

—The Washington Post

One of “Ten Books to Help You Foster a More Diverse and Inclusive Workplace.”

—FORBES

“Her humor, high-energy writing, and emphasis on positive ways to view and experience age contribute to making this a valuable resource, an agent for social change, and an enjoyable read.”

—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"[This Chair Rocks] provides a positive view of aging that is sorely missing in today’s popular culture. Appealing to a wide audience, it might even serve as a spark for positive social change."

—Library Journal, Starred Review

“An upbeat, empathetic, and practical guide to becoming "an old person in training."

—Kirkus Reviews

“Applewhite offers a fierce and funny yet practical and thoughtful manifesto on how such negativity can be combated on individual and societal levels. Offering much food for thought and abundant realistic steps to engender positive change, Applewhite's guide is an essential tool for enjoying healthy and happy aging.”

—Booklist

"This Chair Rocks is radical, exuberant, and full of all sorts of facts that erase many of the myths and beliefs about late life. As Applewhite defines and describes ageism, new ways of seeing and being in the world emerge, empowering everyone to see things as they really are."

—Laurie Anderson, artist

“Wow. This book totally rocks. It arrived on a day when I was in deep confusion and sadness about my age Everything about it, from my invisibility to my neck. Within four or five wise, passionate pages, I had found insight, illumination, and inspiration. I never use the word empower, but this book has empowered me.”

—Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author

"Sometimes a writer does us all a great favor and switches on a light. Snap! The darkness vanishes, and in its place we find an electric vision of new ways of living...This Chair Rocks illuminates the path."

—Dr. Bill Thomas, founder of ChangingAging

"A smart and stirring call to add ageism to the list of 'isms' that divide us, and to mobilize against it. An important wake-up call for any baby boomer who's apprehensive about growing old."

—Pepper Schwartz, AARP Ambassador

From the Publisher

Ashton Applewhite narrates her hard-hitting broadside about the realities of age discrimination. In doing so, she turns her well-documented message into a call to action for senior citizens who feel the sting of being treated like second-class citizens. Her gender-neutral vocal character—neither too feminine nor too masculine—is confident, clear, and assertive. This, along with her exhaustive research, will provoke “agers” (not “the aged”) to speak up when others blame them for their physical impairments and mental idiosyncrasies. Applewhite is in her sixties but writes and reads with the audacity we associate with younger people. She’s effective in drawing on her personal experiences as she reminds agers of their strengths and suggests ways for them to combat what is the last widely accepted form of discrimination in America today. T.W. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2019 - AudioFile