i love this. it's so interesting how you brought up that men were considered youths well into their 20s... meanwhile women were ofc old hags if they weren't married and pregnant by like 14. the ancient greek lawmaker solon had this theory of 'seven year age cycles' and by his estimation men are basically still growing/changing/at their 'peak' until they're 56. i think about age a lot.
sameee there’s so much to be said about how weird the age discourse is and how it breaks down social and political solidarity across generations. also one of my favourite facts is that in the early modern period both genders of the middle / lower classes ie most people married later, in their mid twenties, and had a LOT of premarital not-quite-sex. the whole women are and have always been only acceptable if they’re pure teen virgins is of course partially a Victorian fiction.
another banger essay that very deeply resonated with me. as someone who lost a friend to suicide almost exactly a year ago our friend group was very much changed but the pressures of adulthood and the difficulty making time for what matters persists…you can get shocked out of complacency but “complacency” requires immense external pressure or force to either submit to or resist.
i also think about ageism being one of those last underexamined biases we never get out of. and i think about the socialist organizers in my city who are 60+ years old and still building movements based on hope and imagination of how a world can be. the whole life ends after youth is 100% a self-fulfilling prophecy thing IMO.
thank you, I'm glad the essay landed with you. and i'm sorry to hear about your friend - i hope you've had the time and space to honour them this year.
and i agree on the ageism. there's a whole other essay to be written about the frankly disgusting way we talk about older people online, especially in relation to social activism.
i love this. it's so interesting how you brought up that men were considered youths well into their 20s... meanwhile women were ofc old hags if they weren't married and pregnant by like 14. the ancient greek lawmaker solon had this theory of 'seven year age cycles' and by his estimation men are basically still growing/changing/at their 'peak' until they're 56. i think about age a lot.
sameee there’s so much to be said about how weird the age discourse is and how it breaks down social and political solidarity across generations. also one of my favourite facts is that in the early modern period both genders of the middle / lower classes ie most people married later, in their mid twenties, and had a LOT of premarital not-quite-sex. the whole women are and have always been only acceptable if they’re pure teen virgins is of course partially a Victorian fiction.
this is incredible thank you for this
thank you! too kind
another banger essay that very deeply resonated with me. as someone who lost a friend to suicide almost exactly a year ago our friend group was very much changed but the pressures of adulthood and the difficulty making time for what matters persists…you can get shocked out of complacency but “complacency” requires immense external pressure or force to either submit to or resist.
i also think about ageism being one of those last underexamined biases we never get out of. and i think about the socialist organizers in my city who are 60+ years old and still building movements based on hope and imagination of how a world can be. the whole life ends after youth is 100% a self-fulfilling prophecy thing IMO.
thank you, I'm glad the essay landed with you. and i'm sorry to hear about your friend - i hope you've had the time and space to honour them this year.
and i agree on the ageism. there's a whole other essay to be written about the frankly disgusting way we talk about older people online, especially in relation to social activism.