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Breaking the Age Barrier: Seeing Everyone’s Value
My Journey to Challenge Age Stereotypes and Build a Fairer World
As I stand on the cusp of my 30s, I’ve started noticing something unsettling in my day-to-day life: subtle hints of . It’s not about feeling old or worrying about being "past my prime." Instead, it’s about the quiet assumptions and biases that slip into conversations, decisions, and interactions—assumptions that tie a person’s worth to their age.
These moments have made me pause and reflect on how deeply ageism is woven into the fabric of our society, and I’m beginning to see how it affects not just me, but people of all ages around me.
A family gathering That Opened My Eyes
The first time I really felt the sting of ageism was at a family gathering a few months ago. It was one of those warm, chaotic evenings filled with laughter, food, and overlapping conversations.
I was deep in a discussion about a current social issue, something I’d been reading about and felt strongly about, when an older relative, with a chuckle and a pat on my shoulder, said, “Oh, you’re still young, you don’t understand how the world really works.” The comment was meant as a lighthearted jab, but it landed heavily. I felt dismissed, as if my age…
