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Emerging doesn't equal young. There are so many reasons that someone might miss the boat with creative schemes aimed at 18-25 yr olds, esp those who have childcare duties. How many times do we have to have this same conversation? https://twitter.com/MissFraser_x/status/1354909998996983809
Even the language we couch young artists in reveals our assumption about the ostensible precedence of young voices: 'fresh', 'promising', 'exciting', 'relevant'. Think how often you see these words attached to an artist who is over forty.
I do not speak from sour grapes here. I have hugely benefited from this pervasive cult of youth. I began writing and performing at 18 and enjoyed abundant opportunity and platforms in large part because of the schemes and development opportunites I was eligible for at the time.
A big part of my appeal was, and perhaps still for the next ten years of my career (I'm 29 now) will be the fact that I am young. Our obsession with youth expands beyond the arts industry so I think this is symptomatic more than anything else
But we can definitely do more to balance things out. Ageism is often not taken seriously because in all honestly, us lot who are lucky enough to have started young don't see or care about this issue. We're more preoccupied with more avidly discussed aspects of exclusion.
And yes, disparities in gender, race, class, LGBTQIA and disabled representation are crucial. But you are still far more likely, even within these communities, to be published/commissioned/championed if you are YOUNG. Ageism exacerbates these issues profoundly.
I am going to call it out more when I see it. Emerging schemes with age limits. Spoken word line ups that only feature whippersnappers. Marketing copy that uses young as a synonym for 'cool' or 'relevant'. Never mind the pressure this puts on ppl to be making waves before 30!
It's such a shame. It really speaks to the continual erosion of intergenerational community. There's so much wilful misunderstanding and resentment on both sides. We're haemorraging valuable stories and wisdom and missing out on much needed mutual exchange.
