As GEGEN turns thirteen, we ask: What does it mean to come of age?
For many cultures, the thirteenth year marks the end of childhood, a transition from being a child to becoming an adult, and the turning point at which one may begin to be held accountable for one’s own actions. This age is associated with puberty and thus a transition to reproductive labor, ownership and consumption.
When we step out of this prescribed path (as many queer and other marginalized folx do), the pressure to “act your age” based on a vision of progressive deterioration is both heightened and ignored. Ageing isn’t a problem to be solved. The pressure to be “age-appropriate” is also gendered, ableist and racist towards those multitudes who are not allowed to age at all. (While guys are still valorized at a “ripe old age,” as soon as women hit forty they are frequently considered “too old” to spend a night dancing in a club.)
One thing is certain: time does not stop – so ageing is both unavoidable and simply the experience of moving through life. To age is to open new doors without forgetting the path we have walked before. To age is to remember the past while we embrace new possibilities.
Welcome to GEGEN Age: a positive and cleansing becoming that not only celebrates the importance of intergenerational relationships but also divergent abilities and big beautiful bodies.
Let’s celebrate every year we add to our experiences. Let’s cheer what we have achieved. Let’s share our wisdom with mutual respect. Let’s acknowledge the personal growth we get from gathering and touching, loving and fucking all the different ages we find in a party that ages together with us.
By celebrating the past and experiencing the present through an already touchable future, we become:
GEGEN Age
