Ageism should be against Talk Guidelines

[Somethingbland]

In the past there has been a lot of disquiet about the blatant ageism on MN.

Today I have been extremely annoyed by a blatantly and unashamedly ageist thread in AIBU about dressing " like an old lady"
I reported the thread and of course was told by MN the thread is allowed to stand because it doesn't contravene Talk guidelines.
But why doesn't it? Why does MN see ageism as perfectly acceptable? It's a total disgrace in my eyes.

I was amongst the first women who were affected by the change in retirement law and was so unable to retire at 60 as had been the norm previously. The discrimination I experienced as an older woman amongst predominantly younger staff was extremely upsetting . To be a figure of fun and contempt because of your age is no joke. And yet MN is apoarently happy to enable such views on this site

Try to calm down thr thread isn’t ageist for goodness sake. Mumsnet is right,

It absolutely was ageist. The term 'old lady' was being used to imply something poor/inferior/unstylish etc.

Ageism is supposed to be against Talk Guidelines but, IME, it can be very hard to get MHQ to agree with reports!

Completely agree OP. Ageism is absolutely rife on Mumsnet and is rarely called out.

I agree op. I reported the thread too. It feels like us older women will just be ignored and undervalued as usual

I actually don’t understand the whole waspi thing, want equality but only one way! Poor you all having to work to mid 60s… it’ll be 75 for me and my generation, if get bloody anything,other than the glow in our hearts knowing have worked for 50 years for no promised state pension, while non contributing people get it and all the gateway benefits! Yay!!

It was ageist. In much the same way as telling women to calm down is also problematic.

I beg to disagree : assuming that all old women dress in a certain way and that way is considered to be appalling is very much ageist.
Please explain why you state it isnt.
And btw you forgot when you told me to calm down to add "dear" .

A check I use is to replace the word ‘old’ with, for instance, black, Muslim, Pakistani etc then see how nice and reasonable it sounds. Not quite so light-hearted then, is it? I agree, OP; often (particularly women’s) ages are given in rants e.g the old couple next door always park over my driveway - their age is irrelevant and thus is being used in a derogatory manner no other sector would accept.

Surely the old woman thread wasn't ageism?

Everyone is offended about something nowadays. Or is that everyoneism?

Is it ageist to say you don’t want to dress like a 60 year old when you’re in your 20s?

Exactly. Ignored , undervalued and actually very much stereotyped. We are no longer seen as individuals with brains and opinions.

I didn't mind, or wouldn't have minded, working past 60, if the attitude of the predominantly younger workforce had been different. It's being treated as lesser than and being patronised that is the problem.

MN said no so what are you hoping to come from this? Hide the thread

I was just going to say the same thing. Replace old with an ethnic group and it would be unacceptable.

I also reported it and submitted a brief narrative about why. As usual though our voices won’t be heard.

Well yes it is ageist. You are assuming that every woman dresses in a certain way just because of her age! How on earth is that not ageist?

I think ageism will be more frowned upon in the next decade. I agree with everything you wrotem

How is it negative?

My mother is 60 and she has a very different style to me. It’s not negative it’s just an observation

No. Neither when you are 40, nor even when you are 60.

So? If we said something was childish, is that ageist too?

Age will always be highly relevant in many debates. A world where we never refer to age or attribute various things to age is unrealistic.

Because fashion exists and people tend to gear their look toward what was fashionable when they were 20-40.

That’s why you don’t see 60 something women with huge lip fillers, or 20 year olds wearing Hush Puppies.

Now I’m wondering if this is about a thread where I said I don’t want to wear walking sandals while on holiday because they look like something a 60 year old would wear 😬

Yes. It makes silly assumptions about how both of these age groups dress. Well, I’m 65 and my DD is 27 and many of our clothes are interchangeable. 🤷‍♀️

My Gran calls things ‘old granny’. She doesn’t see herself as such. Because it’s not referring to a person, it’s referring to a style.

Explain how it’s ageism?