Agewise – Fighting the New Ageism in America

In Agewise, renowned cultural critic Margaret Morganroth Gullette reveals that much of what we dread about aging is actually the result of ageism - which we can, and should, battle as strongly as we do racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry. A bracing, controversial call for a movement of resistance, Agewise will surprise, enlighten, and, perhaps most important, bring hope to readers of all ages.

"Important social criticism from a prominent scholar." (Publishers Weekly) "A must-read for anyone expecting to grow old in this culture-most of us, one hopes. Of particular interest are Gullette's [chapters] on cosmetic surgery, late-life sexuality, memory loss, and the suicide of the feminist scholar Carolyn Heilbrun.... Gullette coined the term 'age studies,' that is, a critical perspective on the entire life-course, and Agewise demonstrates that she is a master practitioner of the discipline. She labels ignorance of old age 'a social epidemic.' This bias, she says, can be remedied not just by living, which is slow and uncertain, but by raising one's consciousness." (Women's Review of Books) "Gullette has the uncanny ability to invite the reader to step close to aging bodies and souls and, then, remind us that we cannot slide into another's life course; can never wrap ourselves in their experience of aging. It is this insight and her keen ability to turn a phrase that makes Agewise both excellent scholarship and a deeply readable and provoking book." (Health) "An instant classic.... Brilliant.... It will instantly transform the way people think about aging and ageism." (Times Higher Education)"

Margaret Morganroth Gullette is the author of three previous books, including Aged by Culture, which was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the Christian Science Monitor, and Declining to Decline.