By Tracy
I just came across this gem on the site for the 2009 This is Not Art Festival. Having recently styled myself a "radical egalitarian" (!), I'm amused to find that (yet again) some are more equal than others.
"The National Young Writers' Festival is Australia's premier event for emerging writers, publishers, performers and trouble-makers. Far from the seas of white hair, book signings and celebrity author worship you might expect, the NYWF is a DIY, hands-on conversation between equals."
(I never knew hair colour could be so intimidating! Rules out both Andy Warhol and my own dear John.)
It's enough to bring down your grey hairs in sorrow to the grave, as they say in that (old, so old) book of Genesis.
PS I'm all for youth -- or anyone else -- defining a space for themselves. But the ageism (hair-ism?) seems to contradict the claim to egalitarianism here.
7 comments:
They could learn a lot from John - shame they wouldn't accept him!
Well I am happy to be a little more politically incorrect than that...yes, youth is good and they have valuable things to say BUT I still think there is value in the traditional system of tempering the important decisions with wisdom which can only be gained by the time consuming process of living.
My mother, a student of classical history in Holland pointed out to me once that the crusades were peopled by young men driven by testosterone and religious fervour to surrender their lives for the cause. This current 'culture of youth' scares me. Not just because my opinion may no longer be valued, but because children may soon be running the world.
Thanks, both of you.
I know what you mean, Michelle, but I'm still confident there are plenty of young people out there (I've met some!) who are fully able to question that "testosterone and religious fervour" thing.
We were all young once -- and they'll all (I hope) live to be old too...!
True - I work with some great young people who are very balanced in their views. And to be fair, I have probably not lost much of my own 'religious' fervour!
As a fellow white hair of many years, like John, I am also a little pissed by the hairism!
Michelle will vouch for my complete and utter adolescence at times!
What do you mean 'sometimes'? Just one of the many of our generation who refuse to grow old. Now if I could only get the body to co-operate.
I've always felt too old for young writers events. Alas, too often there's not much room for the uncool. Or the white haired.
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