One little digit
Dutch guy wants to be trans 49.
Emile Ratelband, 69, wants to shift his birthday from 11 March 1949 to 11 March 1969, comparing the change to identifying as being transgender.
“We live in a time when you can change your name and change your gender. Why can’t I decide my own age?” he said.
Is it satire or does he really mean it?
Mr Ratelband argues he feels discriminated against because of his age, and that it was affecting his employment chances and his success rate on the dating app, Tinder.
“When I’m 69, I am limited. If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work,” he said.
So why not make it 29?
“When I’m 69, I am limited. If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car.”
Honestly if true this sounds like age discrimination – which he is possibly pulling this stunt to draw attention to? I mean, why should someone be disallowed from buying new things or kept from work because of their age?
Anna, I don’t think he is disallowed from buying things, just that he doesn’t have the money because he can’t get a good job at his age.
I stay with my job because I know the odds of a 58 year old woman being hired in the current market are nearly zero in my field. So I feel his pain.
I wonder, if he succeeds, will he give up his state pension (which starts at 65 in the Netherlands)?
Also, will life and travel insurance firms accept his new age? If not, will he sue them?
I suspect it may be satire.
I think the buying-a-house thing is about getting a mortgage. At 69, you don’t have much time to pay it off.