This Chair Rocks

pushing back against ageism—which affects everyone

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Skip to content This Chair Rocks pushing back against ageism—which affects everyone Menu Home About the Book Blog Other Writing Yo, Is This Ageist? Appearances In the Media Resources Video What Is Ageism? Bio Contact This Chair Rocks Aging isn’t a problem to be solved. Or a disease to be cured. Or something icky that old people do. It’s how we move through life, and more of us are doing more of it than ever before in human history. What stands between us and making the most of these longer lives? Ageism: judging, stereotyping, and discriminating against people on the basis of how old we think they are. Solve for ageism and we also address sexism (aging is gendered), ableism (disability is stigmatized), and racism (which denies multitudes the chance to age at all). So I’ve written a book . I blog about it. I led the team that developed Old School : a hub for age equity and ageism awareness. I am the voice of Yo, Is This Ageist? (Go ahead, ask me.) I speak widely . All efforts to help catalyze a grassroots movement to raise awareness of ageism and how to dismantle it. Watch my TED Talk! Visit Old School ! About the Book Buy the book From childhood on, we’re barraged by messages that it’s sad to be old. That wrinkles are embarrassing, and old people useless. Author and activist Ashton Applewhite believed them too—until she realized where this prejudice comes from and the damage it does. Lively, funny, and deeply researched, This Chair Rocks traces Applewhite’s journey from apprehensive boomer to pro-aging radical, and in the process debunks myth after myth about late life. The book explains the roots of ageism—in history and in our own age denial—and how it divides and debases, examines how ageist myths and stereotypes cripple the way our brains and bodies function, looks at ageism in the workplace and the bedroom, exposes the cost of the all-American myth of independence, critiques the portrayal of olders as burdens to society, describes what an all-age-friendly world would look like, and concludes with a rousing call to action. Whether you’re older or hoping to get there, this book will shake you by the shoulders, cheer you up, make you mad, and change the way you see the rest of your life. Age pride! One of The 100 best books to read at every age — Washington Post One of 10 Books to Help You Foster a More Diverse and Inclusive Workplace — Forbes Wow. This book totally rocks. It arrived on a day when I was in deep confusion and sadness about my age—62. Everything about it, from my invisibility to my neck. Within four or five wise, passionate pages, I had found insight, illumination and inspiration. I never use the word empower, but this book has empowered me. ANNE LAMOTT , New York Times best-selling author Along comes Ashton Applewhite with a book we have been waiting for. Anti-ageism now boasts a popular champion, activist, and epigrammatist in the lineage of Martial and Dorothy Parker. Until This Chair Rocks we haven’t had a single compact book that blows up myths seven to a page like fireworks. LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS “Ashton Applewhite is the Malcolm Gladwell of ageism.” -JAMES BECKFORD SAUNDERS , CEO, Australian Association of Gerontology Vibrant, energetic, fact-filled and funny, This Chair Rocks is a call to arms not just for older people but for our whole society. KATHA POLLITT , poet, essayist, and Nation columnist Sometimes a writer does us all a great favor and switches on a light. Snap! The darkness vanishes and, in its place we find an electric vision of new ways of living. I want to live in a world where ageism is just a memory, and This Chair Rocks illuminates the path. DR. BILL THOMAS , founder of Changing Aging This Chair Rocks is radical, exuberant, and full of all sorts of facts that erase many of the myths and beliefs about late life. As Applewhite defines and describes ageism, new ways of seeing and being in the world emerge, empowering everyone to see things as they really are. LAURIE ANDERSON , artist A knowledgeable, straight-talking, and witty book that briskly explains to anyone how-wrong-we-are-about-aging. There’s radical news here to enlighten the most “done” starlet, and tart turns of phrase to captivate the most expert age critic: ‘All aging is “successful”—not just the sporty version—otherwise you’re dead.’ This pithy primer ought ideally to be given to every American adolescent—to inoculate them against the lies and stereotypes that can spoil the long life course they will all want. Margaret Morganroth Gullette , author of Aged by Culture and the prize-winning Agewise and Declining to Decline Ashton Applewhite is a visionary whose time has come, tackling one of the most persistent biases of our day with originality, verve, and humor. Her magic formula of naming and shaming may just shake all of us out of complacency and it into action. Whether you relate through being older now or recognize that aging is in your future, this is one of the most important books you’ll ever read. Marc Freedman , CEO of Encore.org and author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Life Stage Before Midlife A smart and stirring call to add ageism to the list of ‘isms’ that divide us, and to mobilize against it. Applewhite shows how ageism distorts our view of old age, and urges us to challenge age- based prejudices in ourselves and in society. An important wake-up call for any baby boomer who’s apprehensive about growing old. Pepper Schwartz , Professor of Sociology, University of Washington and AARP’s Official Love & Relationship Ambassador This Chair Rocks is a 2016 Foreword INDIES Winner in Adult Nonfiction! Smart, sassy and oh so wise. AARP Finally, a take-down of the last acceptable prejudice. Applewhite eloquently and expertly exposes the structural discrimination that makes growing older so much harder than it should be—not just for the white, affluent, healthy, and able-bodied, but for women, people of color, people with disabilities, and poor people. Full of treasures, This Chair Rocks should be required reading for everyone in aging services, to help us confront ageism in our personal and professional lives and join forces against it. As Applewhite writes, ‘It’s time for Age Pride.’ Donna Corrado , Commissioner, NYC Department for the Aging An eloquent and well-researched exposé of the prejudice that feeds age bias, and a passionate argument to mobilize against it. This must-read book is also a fun-read for every age. Stephanie Coontz , author, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap To live agefully – what a wonderful word! With warmth, wit and clarity, Ashton Applewhite explains what it means, while never falling into age-denial or age-shame. This is a book packed with provocative and liberating ideas, to make you leap into the air with pleasure – even if your knees, like mine, are a little dodgy. Anne Karpf , author of How to Age When author, activist, and presenter Ashton Applewhite entered the scene with the book “This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism” in 2016, things began to change. The book crystallized decades of careful research on causes, effects, and ways to prevent ageism for a much wider audience, acting as a catalyst to raise the consciousness of people around the world on what ageism is and what we can do to dismantle it. The Decade of Healthy Aging (a UN + WHO collaboration) Blog Readers are encouraged to distribute, remix, and tweak this material! Please credit This Chair Rocks/ Ashton Applewhite The problem isn’t "gerontocracy." It’s inequality. Posted on Saturday, June 27, 2026 by Ashton Applewhite Have you noticed the recent spate of articles about "greedy geezers" hoarding wealth and power at the expense of the young? Born 50 years apart, my GoGenerate colleague Arielle Galinsky and I see things very differently. We're allies, not competitors. Yes, there’s a legitimate “us vs. them” dynamic narrative in play, but it’s not old against young. It’s the rich and powerful vs. the rest of us. Here's the opinion piece we co-authored, titled This Isn't A Generational War and published in Aging in America News . It's #AgeWithoutLimits Day! Posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 by Ashton Applewhite Today's the day to join the Centre for Ageing Better in questioning #ageism. "Too old" for something? Not appropriate "for your age?" Those ways of thinking are ageist. No matter what you decide to do if you hear phrases like these, "remember that when we question ageism, we challenge it. And the more we challenge it, the more we start to change it." A funny thing happened on my way home… Posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 by Ashton Applewhite Last week I was strolling to the subway through picturesque Greenwich Village at dusk, enjoying the spring evening. As I was crossing Bank Street, I saw another older woman crossing from the other side trip and fall. Instantly several people came over to see if she needed help. She was shaken and had bruised her knees, but was completely clear-headed. Several young people helped her back on her feet, and she told them she was OK. I assured them, truthfully, that I was happy to stay with her. I said the same to others who came up to see if the two old women with canes needed any help. New York is like that. The woman rubbed her knees gingerly and ascertained that nothing was seriously awry. Also that maybe she should take a cab the rest of the way home. I seconded that idea, and offered to walk her across Hudson Street and put her in one. The woman had excellent lipstick and a twinkle in her eye. As we crossed the street she said with an emphatic sigh, “I was doing so well .” I don’t have much of a filter. I burst out laughing, and said, “I say that all the time .” Then blurted, “I hope you know I’m not laughing at you .” “Oh no,” she responded. “You’re laughing at us .” Indeed I was. There’s more Other Writing by Ashton Applewhite This Isn’t a Generational War, Aging in America News June 25, 2026 Link here . “The thing about ‘ageing gracefully’: whatever you call it, I’ll do it my way”, The Guardian US July 7, 2025 Link here . Let’s Come Together for YODA January 7, 2025 Link here . We Can’t Shut down the Conversation About Biden’s Age. That’s Fine With Me. February 28, 2024 Link here . Ageist? Ableist? Who, me? January 18, 2023 Link here . There’s more Yo, Is This Ageist? (Go ahead, ask me.) Yo, Is This Ageist? A Lesson In Ageism At the 2026 Met Gala, the annual high-fashion benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art ’s Costume Institute, 32-year-old Bad Bunny--the most popular artist in the world--appeared as an older version of himself At the 2026 Met Gala, the annual high-fashion benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art ’s Costume Institute, 32-year-old Bad Bunny—the most popular artist in the world—appeared as an older version of himself. Some objected, finding the cane ableist and pointing out that it’s one thing to perform age and quite another to be old. But IMO the costume honors“the aging body,” which is one of the themes of this year’s exhibition (along with the corpulent body, the disabled body, and the pregnant body—a welcome embrace of body positivity). More significantly, Bad Bunny’s work is rooted in his homeland of Puerto Rico, where elders are highly respected. This respect is high visible through the artist’s music and creative collaborations, as when he brought Maria Antonia “Toñita” Cay, the 85-year-old owner of the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn, on stage during the 2026 Super Bowl. As for the bastón (walking cane). Bad Bunny wasn’t hunched over or hobbling or mocking those who do. He was using it  as an accessory, and perhaps referencing its place in Puerto Rican culture and Latin America more broadly, as a symbol of leadership, masculinity, ancestry, spiritual authority, and/or ancestral guidance.  So I’m giving this one a big YAY. Yo, I was in a webinar and the lecturer made a comment while navigating Zoom settings and functions about how she feels like a dinosaur, despite being a millennial, regarding her level of computer literacy. Is this ageist? Yup. Here’s an anecdote about a New York-based nonprofit called Life Story Club that makes this point: Life Story Club hosts weekly social clubs for older adults. When the pandemic struck, the organization moved its in-person programming onto Zoom. When Life Story Club told potential partner organizations about the shift, they kept hearing that participants wouldn't be able to access the technology. "Oh no, the tech piece will make it impossible." A lot of people turned them down. As the COVID lockdown progressed, more people said, "Let's try this out." Guess what? Zoom worked just fine. Note that Life Story Club makes it easy as possible for participants, offering tech support like a phone patch-in service for members who are visually impaired. "But the tech piece has never been an issue, not once," says Life Story program director Ezra Gates. "In fact, a lot of people were super tech savvy, and taught me how to do things." Gates is 36. There’s more Appearances My We Are All Aging-Let’s End Ageism talk describes the roots of ageism in society and in our own age denial, how age bias divides and diminishes us, and how to mobilize against it. Age Against the Machine-Ending Ageism in the Workplace explores the false narratives that pit workers at both ends of the spectrum against each other, the costs to both organizations and employees, and how to detect and prevent it. strong>Still Kicking-Confronting Ageism and Ableism in the Pandemic’s Wake looks at how much apprehension about growing older is actually about how our minds and bodies may change (that’s ableism, not ageism), why we have to understand what we’re up against, and how to dismantle these intertwined biases. Aging While Female, Reimagined urges women of all ages to look more generously at each other, and ourselves, and mobilize against the double whammy of ageism and sexism. The Ugly Dance explores how ageism and ableism sanction elder abuse, the “ugly dance” of ageism and ableism, which stand between everyone – especially the most vulnerable among us – and the safe and comfortable old age we all deserve. To book me for your event, please contact the Lavin Agency . What People Are Saying: I was encouraged by the statistics you quoted, forced to acknowledge my own ageist thoughts, and ultimately fired up to fight them in myself and others. You are on to something big! Sarah Meredith, painter Ashton Applewhite shows us that a world for all ages is indeed possible if we recognise the potential within each of us, speak truth to power, and stand together as one. UN Decade of Healthy Ageing Consciousness-raising at its sharpest and most useful. David Watts Barton, journalist and playwright This Chair Rocks confirms our knowledge that emotional well being is abundant in later life, challenges us to face our own internalized ageism, and inspires us to envision a future in which our society is released from age-related prejudice and discrimination. And it’s fun, too! Geriatric Mental Health Alliance of New York All practitioners working with older adults need to be informed about the pernicious influences of ageism. Nobody does this better than Ashton Applewhite. Her thinking is deep, her passion infectious, and her cogent message is spot on: we urgently need to have a national conversation about ageism to raise awareness about it and to stop it. Risa Breckman, LCSW, Executive Director, NYC Elder Abuse Center You have found a fantastic mission: raising consciousness that older is far better than the stereotype that enslaves us all. Jennifer Siebens, producer, CBS News Octogenarians are the fastest-growing segment of our population, yet most Americans are scared stiff at the prospect of growing old. Applewhite’s work is a welcome and important tonic. Dr. Robert Butler, founding director of the National Institute on Aging, coiner of the term “ageism” A beautifully delivered, provocative description of how ageism clouds our vision of what life holds in store. Sabrina Hamilton, director, Ko Festival for the Arts Ashton Applewhite is on a crusade. A journalist and author, her mission is to raise awareness of ageism in America and get people young and old to join her in speaking out against it. Senior Planet Thank you again for your terrific keynote yesterday. I heard from so many attendees that it affected them deeply. You are wise, funny, and provocative – a great combination! Teresa Bonner, Program Director, Aroha Philanthropies Upcoming Appearances keynote, Symposium on Ageism Where: Princeton, NJ When: October 2, 2026 12:00 am More info: Hosted by the Center for Modern Aging Princeton, the program will address the impacts of age bias and ways to foster more inclusive and age-integrated communities. Past Appearances Media The Ageism Crisis Nobody’s Talking About, The Transitions Network April 9, 2026 Link here . Rethinking Aging, Senior Authority, NHPBS September 15, 2025 Link here . “Brief But Spectacular”, PBS News Hour August 7, 2025 Link here . podcast, Age Like a Badass Mother July 8, 2025 Link here . interview, Hello Monday with LinkedIn’s Jessi Hempel April 21, 2025 Link here . There’s more Resources download PDF here Watch my TED Talk, “Let’s End Ageism” download PDF here You’ll find hundreds more resources about ageism and how to dismantle it on the Old School Hub –all free except the books. The Hub also offers ways to meet and support others working to end ageism. Video On YouTube Inaugural Greengross Lecture on the Future of Ageing at the British Museum 15 June 2023 Talk at Future Trends Forum in Madrid 1 December 2017 Talk at the Library of Congress 25 October 2016 Keynote address at the United Nations 6 October 2016 What Is Ageism? Ageism is stereotyping and discrimination on the basis of a person’s age. We experience it any time someone assumes that we’re “too old” for something—a task, a haircut, a relationship—instead of finding out who we are and what we’re capable of. Or “too young;” ageism cuts both ways, although in a youth-obsessed society olders bear the brunt of it. Like racism and sexism, ageism serves a social and economic purpose: to legitimize and sustain inequalities between groups. It’s not about how we look. It’s about how people in power assign meaning to how we look. Stereotyping—the assumption that all members of a group are the same—underlies ageism (as it does all “isms”). Stereotyping is always a mistake, but especially when it comes to age, because the older we get, the more different from one another we become. Attitudes about age—as well as race and gender—start to form in early childhood. Over a lifetime they harden into a set of truths: “just the way it is.” Unless we challenge ageist stereotypes— Old people are incompetent. Wrinkles are ugly. It’s sad to be old —we feel shame and embarrassment instead of taking pride in the accomplishment of aging. That’s internalized ageism. By blinding us to the benefits of aging and heightening our fears, ageism makes growing older far harder than it has to be. It damages our sense of self, segregates us, diminishes our prospects, and actually shortens lives. What are the antidotes? ¶ Awareness : the critical starting point is to acknowledge our own prejudices about age and aging. (Download a copy of Who me, Ageist? How to Start a Consciousness Raising Group .) Then we can start to see that “personal problems”—such as not being able to get a job or being belittled or feeling patronized—are actually widely shared social problems that require collective action. ¶ Integration : connect with people of all ages. An equitable society for all ages requires intergenerational collaboration. ¶ Activism : watch for ageist behaviors and attitudes in and around us, challenge them, and create language and models that support every stage of life. Bio I didn’t set out to become a writer. I went into publish