The antiquated idea that ageing is the enemy is on its way out and midlife is having a moment.
Slowly, more brands are starting to visibly embrace more inclusive age narratives, by representing their customers at all stages of life.
Take H&M, who are set to release a collaboration with style icon and centenarian Iris Apfel or Australia’s own Camilla and Marc who appointed 56-year-old Paulina Porizkova as the muse for their Resort 22 campaign. But this foray towards age inclusivity is long overdue.
In the twentieth century, our life expectancy grew by over two and a half years per decade, meaning we have ‘inherited’ around thirty extra years of life. Mankind has literally won the longevity lotto! And while that is awesome news, we also need to dedicate attention to reshaping the social narrative by pioneering new ways of aging creatively and intentionally, all while weathering the inevitable storm of ageism from people and institutions who feel threatened by change or who aren’t switched on to the incredible opportunity that our improved longevity affords us all.
Every person on the planet has a stake hold in aging and yet paradoxically, ageism remains one of the last “isms” to be properly addressed. The ultimate dichotomy of aging is that we all hope to reach old age; we just don’t want to be old! American author and age activist, Ashton Applewhite aptly described it as, “prejudice against your future self.” Unlike racism or sexism, perpetrators of ageism will eventually become the target of the very same intolerance and discrimination themselves. Because…. spoiler alert… We are all going to get older.
Over the last few years there’s been a groundswell of attention on the aging space and the myriad of issues and opportunities that prevail within it. One such example is the Modern Elder Academy (MEA), the world’s first midlife wisdom school, created with the bold objective to reframe midlife from a crisis to a calling. They offer a suite of workshops (both online and in-person) all designed to help inspire and empower people in midlife and beyond.
Six months ago, the Modern Elder Academy launched in Australia as MEAx and already over 100 people from this region have completed a workshop. If you’d like to know more, then MEAx are running free one-hour online information sessions. Click here to reserve a spot … and get ready to reframe your mindset on ageing!
