someone’ s been called out for not‘ acting their age’. We’ re familiar with the flipside— women being told they’ re too old to do or wear certain things after a point in the lifetime graph. A survey in on retiresavvy. co. uk even put numbers on it— no skinny jeans and bikinis past 46, no crossing midnight past 52... We were all appropriately outraged— but it raised the interesting question of whether‘ acting your age’ has an equally frustrating effect on the younger set. Shibani, 23, Marketing Exec, feels that pressure

when she ditches plans to“ stay home and watch TV.”“ Colleagues keep suggesting I tag along for drinks or reprimanding me for not going out and meeting people because I’ m single. They don’ t realise I’ m not lonely— I’ m just tired after work most days, but I feel guilty saying no,” she says. The issue, however, doesn’ t only extend to wild nights out.‘ Feeling too old for your body’ is in the top 20 trending subjects on reddit. com, with posts by people who“ can’ t live up to the expectations of youth”, because they“ prefer’ 70s music to the current stuff” or“ would rather drink a sherry than a Jäegerbomb.” This idea of‘ young’ and‘ old’ preferences and activities was explored in a study by May, Hasher, & Stoltzfus. It stated that most older people worked better in the morning, and younger people had more productive evenings. This syncs up to the idea that‘ night-time is for the young’. The study also found that younger people were better at adapting to new things, while older people had better vocabulary and specialised knowledge. And then there’ s social media— the assumed‘ young’ mode of

communication.“ I’ m not on anything,” says Vinita, 26, Artist.“ It’ s a decision I constantly have to defend, because‘ everyone my age is on Insta or FB. It’ s as if it makes me a traitor to my generation.” The shaming can be upsetting— but it does make one ponder why a young person tends to feel, well, not. Psychologists say it’ s an offshoot of the‘ quarter-life crisis’, an existential crisis that can strike between 25 and 35. Damian Barr, author of Get it Together, says,“ Being 20-something now is scary— fighting millions of other graduates for your first job, struggling to buy a house and juggling all your relationships. The ones that feel the brunt of it feel much older, because they feel a greater sense of responsibility,” Barr says. But chin up, quarter-life club! There’ s a silver lining:“ The fourth phase of the quarter-life process leads to a reassessment and fresh cementing of commitments. It helps a person build the kind of life they aspire to.” So, the next time you’ re shamed for not drinking, dancing or Instagramming enough, remember the good scientists that said you were probably going to # winatlife instead. n

By: SAUMYAA VOHRA