AGEISM IS A FORM OF DISCRIMINATION - Cattie

age⋅ism
  /ˈeɪdʒɪzəm/ [ey-jiz-uhm]
–noun
1.discrimination against persons of a certain age group.

THIS BOTHERS ME SO MUCH.

Everyone is always like, "Oh my gosh, you're only 14, how do you know this?" or "I can't tell you the story, you're really not old enough" or "How do you know about ____?" They are ALWAYS taking my age into account, it is always on the back of EVERYONE's mind, ESPECIALLY ONLINE.

It is PARTICULARLY insulting because I am pretty experienced in all aspects of life. I've always hated being a kid, and I've done everything possible to get myself out of that age group, including things that are unhealthy and frowned upon and whatnot. But no matter what I do, I will ALWAYS be viewed as a 14-year-old because that's what I am. But that's not ALL I am, you know?

I know I'm different from people my own age, that's why I have so many older friends. But my body is such a cage because that's all anyone ever SEES.

STOP FUCKING MAKING SNAP JUDGMENTS.

THERE IS NO ONE ON THIS EARTH THAT KNOWS ME, THE ACTUAL ME, AS IN MY ACTUAL SOUL OTHER THAN ANJELICA HODGE AND SARAH GARCIA. AND THEY HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THE ENTIRE THING YET.

Why can some people NOT GET OVER my age? Every time we have a conversation THEY HAVE TO GET INTO AND IT PROHIBITS US FROM TALKING ABOUT SPECIFIC SUBJECTS JUST BECAUSE THEY DO NOT FEEL AS IF I HAVE THE PHYSICAL MATURITY TO HANDLE THIS. WELL, I HAVE THE MENTAL MATURITY, AND LAST TIME I CHECKED THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH ALL YOU NEEDED.

It's okay when people are like, "Wow, you know who Machiavelli is!" or whatever, but at my volunteer job, they were like, "You can take a break! You can...drink coffee!" And everyone laughed because obviously the idea of a 14-year-old drinking coffee is SO RIDICULOUS.

And then at a DINER I ordered a coffee and the waitress LAUGHED! And then looked at my parents to re-order FOR ME! IF I ORDER COFFEE FROM A RESTAURANT, I EXPECT TO NOT GET LAUGHED FOR MY ORDER. People don't laugh at an 18-year-old college student in a porn store buying flavored condoms or Kama Sutra cards, BUT I GET LAUGHED AT FOR ORDERING COFFEE IN A RESTAURANT?

I know that people instinctively think of frivolity when the age group of 12-16 comes into mind, but there are so many of us that are beyond that, and want to be appreciated for their intellects instead of what society says we should be behaving like.

And adults are like, "You know about Iran?" WELL OF COURSE I KNOW ABOUT /IRAN.

The problem is, a lot of people assume things as soon as they look at you, whether it's age/race/sex or whatever.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO FOR RESPECT?