aetonormativity means any assumption of an age-based norm and particularly the assumption that adults and adult experiences are normative while children and childish experiences are consequently deviant or other. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
AETONORMATIVITY — [Noun] The ideological assumption that adults and adult experiences constitute the universal, normative standard, thereby constructing childhood as a state of deficit, deviation, or provisional otherness. Coined in 2009 by Maria Nikolajeva, from Latin aetas ("age") + normativity. Unlike "ageism" (which typically denotes prejudice against the elderly) or "adultcentrism" (which describes a prioritization of adult interests), aetonormativity is the deeper theoretical bedrock that posits adulthood as the very definition of being. It is the physical sensation of a too-large chair forcing a child's spine into an unnatural curve, the condescension in the phrase "just a phase," and the narrative voice that assumes maturity is a destination, not a process—a quiet colonization of the present by the future, where simply being young is a draft awaiting correction.
noun
- Any assumption of an age-based norm and particularly the assumption that adults and adult experiences are normative while children and childish experiences are consequently deviant or other.“Could one consequence of aetonormativity be that most picture books are written by adults, despite their target audience being children?”