Everyday Ageism: FEMAIL columnist CHRISTA D'SOUZA, 59

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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