Everyday Ageism: FEMAIL columnist CHRISTA D’SOUZA, 59, argues ‘OK Boomer’ has become an insult
- Christa D’Souza argues ‘OK Boomer’ is being used to patronise Baby Boomers
- Phrase recently made headlines after it was used by a New Zealand MP
- FEMAIL columnist, 59, praises the retort of lawyer Jane Shay Wald
It’s the last tolerated prejudice. But Femail’s had enough. It’s time we called out those day-to-day moments when we’re patronised for no longer being young . . .
So far no one has come back at me with the words ‘OK Boomer’.
The phrase hit the headlines last month when a New Zealand MP used it to shut down a middle-aged climate-change heckler. Since then it’s become the go-to damning phrase for all twenty- somethings wanting to retaliate against us Baby Boomers with our supposedly out-of-touch ways.
Christa D’Souza (pictured) argues ‘OK Boomer’ is being used to patronise Baby Boomers, however Jane Shay Wald has a brilliant retort
Maybe I’ve not been targeted because I remember what it was like to be patronised by grown-ups when I was younger and am wary of perpetuating the same mentality.
As human beings of 55 and above, we have to understand everyday ageism cuts both ways; young people can be victims just as much as we can be, even in this youth-obsessed age.
If, though, you have been bombarded by the phrase, note the brilliant retort of a fellow Boomer I came across the other day. Jane Shay Wald, a lawyer by profession, wonders: ‘If “OK Boomer” is intended as an insulting eye-roll retort, why isn’t it written as “OK, Boomer”, with a comma? Because, you see, without the comma, it just means “Okay Boomer”.’
Which, of course, we are.
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