Ashton Applewhite
Writer and anti-ageism activist
Ashton, an UN report calls ageism “the last acceptable prejudice.” Yet everyone wants to live longer. How do those two ideas fit together?
That contradiction is exactly the point. No bias is rational—especially ageism, which is largely discrimination against our future selves. No one wants to die young, yet most of us fear growing old. But I’ve actually stopped calling ageism “the last acceptable prejudice,” because all forms of prejudice are still too damn acceptable. We’re seeing multiple forms of discrimination—racism, sexism—still very much alive, and in some cases, even normalized.
What matters is understanding that all these biases are interconnected. Ageism doesn’t operate in isolation. The good news is that when we confront any form of bias, we chip away at the fear and ignorance that underlie them all.
If bias is irrational, why is it so persistent?
Because humans are not primarily rational beings. We like to think we are, but we’re driven far more by emotion and narrative than by all the evidence in the world.
Bias is habit—deeply ingrained ways of thinking that are mostly unconscious. Changing it requires effort and self-reflection. Unlearning isn’t easy, especially when it comes to values, but it’s doable and it’s free.
You’ve worked on ageism for over 20 years. Has anything improved??
Yes! When I started out, many people didn’t even know the meaning of the word. Today, that’s not the case. Awareness has increased dramatically, around the world. That visibility is progress. Awareness is always the first step toward change. Interestingly, this increased awareness can give the impression that ageism is getting worse. I don’t think that’s the case. I think we’re seeing it more clearly now, and learning to call it out.
How should someone respond if they’re labeled “too young” or “too old”?
A good all-purpose response to an ageist comment is simply: “What do you mean by that?” Ask it neutrally, not defensively. It compels the other person to reflect on their assumption—and often reveals that age isn’t actually the issue. Because “too young” and “too old” are meaningless.
There are always older and younger people of who can—or cannot—do that thing. Someone might be too experienced, or too inexperienced, or too out of shape, or just not interested in doing it. Age is a proxy. The question is: what quality or qualification are you actually referring to?
What about phrases like “60 is the new 40”? Harmless—or problematic?
They might be well-intentioned but they’re ageist, because they reinforce the idea that younger is better. Being sixty now is different from being sixty a century ago, because we’re living longer, healthier lives. But it’s still sixty.
An important point is that we age at different rates. So people become more different from each as they move through life. For example, a group of 60-year-olds is far more diverse—physically, cognitively, socially—than a group of 30-year-olds.
Many people don’t even recognize age bias—especially in themselves. Why?
Western culture barrages us with negative messages about age and aging. Unless we stop to question those values, we internalize them, appling them to ourselves without noticing. That’s self-directed bias. For example, someone in their early 30s might ignore a physical symptom, attributing it to “getting old”—instead of seeking medical help.
That’s how early in life internalized ageism can begin to corrupt our sense of ourselves and our place in the world. The key is awareness. It starts with self-reflection. Examine your own assumptions about age. Once you start noticing these patterns in yourself, you begin to see how they’re embedded in the culture—that discrimination is a social and political problem, not a personal failing. That is liberating.
What can individuals do to challenge ageism?
Take that awareness out into the world. Small actions matter. Making a significantly younger or older friend is an anti-ageist act. Question stereotypes. Speak up, gently, when you hear or see something ageist. When we stay silent, nothing changes. You can’t start too small or too late.
Change doesn’t require grand gestures. It requires consistent, conscious effort.
And what about companies—what should they do?
There are many practical steps, like age-blind hiring, equal access to training, addressing bias in company culture. There’s a strong business case: age-diverse teams are more innovative and age-equitable companies are more profitable and better places to work. The data is clear.
Again, bias makes no sense. But we won’t achieve age equity in the workplace—or anywhere else—without underlying cultural change.
So what gives you hope?
We are moving—slowly—toward a more diverse, interconnected world. That includes age diversity.
The opportunity is enormous. But to fully benefit from it, we need to actively challenge our assumptions and redesign the way we think about age and aging. This isn’t just about older people. Everyone is aging, from the minute they’re born, and ageism is the one bias that everyone encounters. Confronting ageism is about how we all want to live—and be treated—over the course of our entire lives.