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Associated Press

Self-styled positivity guru Emile Ratelband thinks age is just a number. And his is a number the Dutchman wants changed.
The 69-year-old TV personality has asked a court in the Netherlands to approve his request for a new birthday that officially would make him 49, which he calls his “emotional age”.
Ratelband says his legal appeal is consistent with other forms of personal transformation that are gaining acceptance and government recognition in the Netherlands and around the world.
“With this free(dom) of choice, choice of name, freeness of gender, I want to have my own age. I want to control myself,” he said Thursday.

Ratelband says he wants to avoid age discrimination in society – especially on dating websites.
Forced retirement is ‘age discrimination’, head of Hong Kong’s Elderly Commission tells local businesses
“So when I ask for a mortgage, for example, they say it’s impossible,” he said. “If I go on Tinder, then I get women from 68, 69 when women are there.”
How about just being economical with the truth about his age?
If I go on Tinder, then I get women [aged] 68, 69 when women are there
Emile Ratelband
“I don’t want to lie,” he said. “I want to be myself, so don’t force me to lie.”
Marjolein van den Brink, who specialises in human rights and gender issues at Utrecht University’s law school, said age discrimination is a problem but is different than the issues involved in reassigning gender.
“It’s quite clear that elderly people have a much smaller chance of getting a job than younger people,” she said. “But that’s just one element and it’s only something that happens to you once you reach the age of 40, 45, 50, depending a bit on your job.
“Whereas gender is something that follows you from birth to grave, and it determines nearly everything – and not just in the labour market but everywhere,” she said.
In rare cases, even race has also become more fluid.
In Britain, theatre director Anthony Ekundayo Lennon has attracted attention in part because despite being the son of white Irish parents, he looks like a mixed-race man. He has also written and told journalists that he thinks of himself as black.
He says he was racially abused as a teenager because of his appearance, and when he started an acting career, he found it easier to pursue non-white parts. He also took an African middle name.
Now some black artists are complaining because Lennon was recently given a paid traineeship in a program designed to give more black people a chance for careers in the arts.
Hong Kong needs to better address age discrimination in the workplace
His case resembles in some ways that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman in the United States who identified herself as black after she was raised by religious parents who had adopted four black children. She was working for the NAACP when her ruse was uncovered in 2015.
Ratelband, the Dutch TV personality, says the Dutch government could benefit if it were to accept his age demand. He said he’d be happy to forfeit his monthly pension of around €1,200 (US$1,370) – a concession he estimates would save nearly €300,000 euros over the 20 years he wants shaved off his age.
The court in the central city of Arnhem is expected to issue a ruling in about four weeks.
Ratelband, who makes a living urging people and businesses to be positive, denies that the age request is a publicity stunt. He claims he is seeking a personal positive effect.
“Now I’m an old man. I have to save my money to give to my kids so that they can live,” said the father of seven. “But If I have that age again, I have hope again. I’m new again. The whole future is there for me again.”


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Ageing society

Dutch ‘positive-thinking’ guru Emile Ratelband is 69. He wants to change his legal age to 49

Dutchman Emile Ratelband wants his official age, 69, to be adjusted with his ‘emotional age’ of 49. Photo: AFP

Self-styled Dutch positivity guru Emile Ratelband answers questions during an interview in Utrecht, Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. For Ratelband age really is just a number. In a legal battle that is stretching the debate about just how far a person can go in changing his or her identity, the sixty-nine-year-old television personality has asked a Dutch court to officially change his biological date of birth to make him 49. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Age discrimination: 70pc of survey respondents back legislation; one in three have experienced prejudice

Forced retirement is ‘age discrimination’, head of Hong Kong’s Elderly Commission tells local businesses

Almost a third of Hong Kong’s population is expected to be 65 and above in two decades’ time. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

An elderly man looks out to Victoria Harbour as he sits with the Hong Kong skyline behind him on June 24, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / ANTHONY WALLACE

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Emile Ratelband has gone to court with his request to avoid age discrimination – especially on dating websites


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Dutch ‘positive-thinking’ guru Emile Ratelband is 69. He wants to change his legal age to 49

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Emile Ratelband has gone to court with his request to avoid age discrimination – especially on dating websites

Emile Ratelband has gone to court with his request to avoid age discrimination – especially on dating websites