Ageism works in both directions. As a teenager in the public eye people would talk condescendingly to me. When you get older there's this feeling that you have to start carving up your face and body. Right now I'm in the middle ground - I think women in their thirties are taken seriously.
When Thomas Edison worked late into the night on the electric light he had to do it by gas lamp or candle. I'm sure it made the work seem that much more urgent.
