HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW? - by Jefferson Nnadiekwe

It's always an interesting period when our female faves are about to celebrate their birthdays. This past weekend wasn't an exemption. As we know by now, social media or netizens (as you people have annoyingly chosen to call yourselves) went into a frenzy after a certain public figure declared how old she just turned. For those who do not know, I'm talking about Caroline Danjuma. The Nollywood actress cum socialite, revealed to us that she turned 35 over the weekend. My reaction was same with a lot of others - how on earth is Caroline 35? I and my siblings started watching her in movies as children. Is Miss Caroline trying to claim she is mates with my elder sister, with whom I watched her movies together with? What's with these celebrities and the need for age reduction. I get that there's a fear that comes with getting older. To some, it means you're getting closer to your death day. To others, it hinges on the changes that the body goes through which comes with aging. Some people do not like to see the toll nature takes on their bodies as they age. But you can lie to others about your age, certainly not to yourself. So why bother? I really would like to know the thought behind this? Then again, we live in a society that has no issues with age shaming. On this, I may understand why people feel the need to lie concerning their age. People try to equate your achievement to your age. They make you feel like you're running out of time. And once you let that feeling take hold, it is difficult to shake off. As a lady, people impose a time frame in which you should be married, and have kids. Once you don't meet that time frame, you are made to feel like a product whose shelf life has expired. The good folks of the Nairaland platform, refer to these people as evening newspapers. As men, it is believed that you should be settled at a certain age. You should have a house, a car or two, and a thriving career or business. Anything other than that, makes you a failure. Maybe it is for these reasons and more, that some people bow to the pressure of age reduction. To get society of their back! But thing is society loves our backs, and would most likely never get off. Perhaps, age reduction is one of those things we'd have to get used to, if we choose to remain unkind, as a society.

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