Becoming a more egalitarian individual in respect to age is a continual process.  It requires constant examination of all the habits, ideas, and attitudes we develop in life.  In general we learn how to behave and how to think from the people around us.  Our thoughts on politics, our mannerisms, our religious beliefs, our tastes in style and culture all come from the society in which we live.  This presents a challenge for the youth rights activist since our society is a very ageist society and we are unconsciously influenced by it.

From time to time I try to examine these subtle manifestations of ageism and expose their roots and the harm they cause.  Coming home from work today I noticed a young man wearing a very baggy t-shirt and pants.   It seemed like it would be extremely hot to wear what he was wearing.  What makes this story interesting is that I used to wear baggy clothes.  Now my tastes have changed and I prefer more form-fitting clothes.

For a split second as I was considering my switch from baggy to fit clothes I congratulated myself.  As if I had finally solved the mystery of ultimate clothes size comfort and poor fools like the guy on the street were still struggling in discomfort and ignorance.  But was I truly an enlightened clothes wearer now?  No, not really.  My tastes had simply changed.  There is nothing objectively better or worse about baggy clothes.

But why did I have such a gut level initial reaction?
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