History Main / AgeInsecurity

* ''LightNovel/MyYouthRomanticComedyIsWrongAsIExpected'' Shizuka Hiratsuka is a 30-year-old teacher who refuses to admit her age. She gets upset whenever the subject is brought up.

The inverse, with a character pretending to be older than they are, usually to get around being underage, can be found at TotallyEighteen.

* ''Manga/{{Sabagebu}}'': An EyeCatch in the fifth {{OVA}} depicts housewife Kazue Sonokawa and high school teacher Ena Sakura in school uniforms with the text "17 YEARS". This is an ActorAllusion; Creator/KikukoInoue, who voices Kazue, founded a quasi-cult of voice actresses who always identify themselves as being 17 years old, even though she herself is ''well'' beyond that. Creator/YuiHorie, who voices Ena, is one of her "disciples."

* The time traveler and Mikuru in the ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' series insists that her real age is "classified information", though she says that about any direct questions asked about her or her mission.

* The time traveler and {{Moe}}-blob Mikuru in the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' series insists that her real age is "classified information".

* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'': When a food vendor offers to give food away to the town's children, Miku Sugisaki's middle-aged mother declares that she's 17. When the vender questions her on it, she emphatically replies that she's ''17''. This doubles as an ActorAllusion; the character was voiced by Creator/KikukoInoue, who is legendary in Japanese voice acting for always referring to herself as "17 Years Old + XXXX Days".

* Joan on ''Series/MadMen'' seems to have lied about about her age, as somebody in the office plays a prank on her by pinning a photocopy of her driver's license on the bulletin board with her date of birth circled.

and I'm blowin my brains out when I'm thirty

It's commonly accepted that no one wants to get old and that [[DoubleStandard a woman getting old is pretty much the worst thing that can happen]]. For this reason, a lot of people don't want their age advertised past a certain birthday, and "never ask a lady her age" is a stock etiquette rule. Someone's reasons for lying about their age or keeping it a secret may vary, from being in a business (such as acting) where they risk being put out to pasture if they're seen as too old, to vanity or a delusional wish to cling to a young person's lifestyle, to simply feeling that it's private information. Usually it's TheNotSecret, sometimes even an OpenSecret, but at any rate, [[HilarityEnsues it's bound to become a talking point]], and they won't be happy about it.

* Creator/KikukoInoue always describes herself in public as "17 Years Old + XXXX Days", and has been doing so for a few decades now. She was born in ''1964'', so that's a lot of days. This quirk of hers became so mimetic among Japanese voice actresses that it's something of a religion, with fellow converts who will remain 17 forever.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/TheBlackPrince'': Harry really hates the fact that he's getting older, especially since he watched his mother struggle with arthritis and caring for his father, who had Alzheimer's.
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicStrip/ScaryGary https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ef381173_4a1b_410e_b4e8_ad82a3d19f0c.png]]]]

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** Evelyn Harper is in the habit of doing this, even going so far as to try to get her uncooperative grandson Jake to lie about HIS age so she can maintain the charade. She gets very angry when one of Allan's girlfriends tries to throw a surprise party for him because revealing his age would prove her deception.
** A rare male example is her son Charlie, who will constantly pretend to still be in his early thirties/late twenties. Amusingly this is such second nature to him, Charlie will even try it on Allan.
--->'''Allan:''' Why do you do that? I'm your brother, I know how old you are.

* Music/{{Eminem}}, a little older than his peers, a star in the era of TeenPop, and [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he looked]], was extremely anxious about his age in his early career. He subtracted a couple of years from his age at first, going back on it when his mother leaked his age to the press (she claimed this was an accident -- he claimed it was part of her harassment of him). Numerous lyrics he wrote express his misery about the big 3-0.
** In "When To Stand Up", which according to DJ Jazzy Jeff was written when Eminem was in fact 25:
--->I may mingle but I plan to stay single,\\

** In "Without Me", Eminem accuses Music/{{Moby}} of being a 36-year-old and a has-been. Moby was in fact 34, and Eminem, at 29, was not much younger. (Eminem would go on to release arguably his most commercially successful album at 38.)
** "Soldier", written at 29, has this unfortunately HilariousInHindsight moment as Eminem's ''Encore'', written in part when he was 30, was when the critical consensus turned on him:
--->So ticky-tock, listen as the sound ticks on the clock,\\

* ''Series/ILoveLucy'':
** In "Lucy Tells the Truth", one of Lucy's friends takes advantage of her bet to tell the truth by asking her how old she is.
** A male example appears as a throwaway line. Someone mentions Ricky is pushing 23. Lucy quips that he's pushed it all the way to 35.
** In one episode, Lucy can't find her birth certificate to get her passport, so she tracks down her childhood babysitter to vouch for her age while getting some forms signed. The other woman's husband happens to be a notary, but as soon as he sees the age Lucy is, he refuses to sign the forms. It then becomes clear the woman has been lying about her age, as according to her husband, she's younger than Lucy and therefore could not have been her babysitter and he cannot sign off on a lie. Lucy is understandably upset when the woman continues to lie about her age.

* Joan on ''Series/MadMen'' seems to have done this, as somebody in the office plays a prank on her by pinning a photocopy of her driver's license on the bulletin board with her date of birth circled.

* ''LightNovel/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAF'' Shizuka Hiratsuka is a 30-year-old teacher who refuses to admit her age. She gets upset whenever the subject is brought up.

* HotTeacher Shizuka Hiratsuka from ''LightNovel/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAFU'' is a teacher in her 30s, but she doesn't want to suppose that was her age, becoming usually violent every time the topic is mentioned. [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale Hachiman Hikigaya knows very well about it]].

It's commonly accepted that no one wants to get old, and that [[DoubleStandard a woman getting old is pretty much the worst thing that can happen]]. For this reason, a lot of people don't want their age advertised past a certain birthday, and "never ask a lady her age" is a stock etiquette rule. Someone's reasons for lying about their age or keeping it a secret may vary, from being in a business (such as acting) where they risk being put out to pasture if they're seen as too old, to vanity or a delusional wish to cling to a young person's lifestyle, to simply feeling that it's private information. Usually it's TheNotSecret, sometimes even an OpenSecret, but at any rate, [[HilarityEnsues it's bound to become a talking point]], and they won't be happy about it.

* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'': When a food vender offers to give food away to the town's children, Miku Sugisaki's middle-aged mother declares that she's 17. When the vender questions her on it, she emphatically replies that she's ''17''. This doubles as an ActorAllusion; the character was voiced by Creator/KikukoInoue, who is legendary in Japanese voice acting for always referring to herself as "17 Years Old + XXXX Days".
* Miss Hudson in ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' insists she's eternally 17--despite clearly being old enough to be a landlady. Sherlock calls her out and says that's she's somewhere in her 30's, but she cuts him off before he's able to reveal her entire age.
* HotTeacher Shizuka Hiratsuka from ''LightNovel/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAFU'' is a teacher in her 30s, but she doesn't want to suppose that was her age, becoming usually violent everytime the topic is mentioned. [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale Hachiman Hikigaya knows very well about it]].

[[folder:Film-Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** This is a RunningGag with Jenna. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c52WJdoh8fQ At one point]] she survives a rapid-fire interrogation from Jack by rattling off what are clearly [[CrazyPrepared memorized answers]] to questions such as what her high school prom theme was. In another episode, Jenna starts trying to pretend she's older than she actually is, because while middle aged actresses rarely get work, there are great roles for older distinguished actresses like Creator/JudiDench and Creator/HelenMirren.

** 'Kenneth is implied to be immortal and anywhere from a few centuries to a few millennia old. He tends to avoid direct questions about his age, and at one point nervously asks if there will be any new rules for the page program, 'like age limits and age verification'.

** A rare male example is her son Charlie, who will constantly pretend to still be in his early thirties/late twenties. Amusingly this is such second nature to him Charlie will even try it on Allan.
---> '''Allan:''' Why do you do that? I'm your brother, I know how old you are.

* A RunningGag in ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls'' is that Nana Abe is much older than she lets on. She will constantly mention she's the "eternal 17 year old", and any mention of age or being older has her nervously proclaim it.

* Mandy Seley's weekly webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Curtailed}}'' has Mandy's AuthorAvatar be approached in a bar by a decent-looking FunnyAnimal in the Wednesday 6 June 2012 strip. The fellow asks her age, to which Mandy coyly responds, "Hm, guess." This ploy backfires hilariously, as the artist states in the commentary that she was 25 at the time.

* Implied in a ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode-- when the Planet Express spaceship is in danger, Leela says that she doesn't want to die at the age of 25. Bender, however, replies with "Unless we had a time warp, I wouldn't worry about that".

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* A rare male example was a running gag in ''ComicBook/TheDandy''; Desperate Dan refused to divulge his age, leading the editor of the local paper to spend a great deal of effort trying to get hold of it.

* A rare male example was a running gag in ''ComicBook/TheDandy''; Desperate Dan refused to divulge his, leading the editor of the local paper to spend a great deal of effort trying to get hold of it.

* VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield: Opal's gym battle requires challengers to answer a quiz while battling. If they answer correctly, their pokemon's stats are boosted, but if it's wrong, the boost goes to Opal's team. However, correctly guessing Opal's age as 88 actually gives the boost to ''her'' team since she'd had preferred it if you were "a little more sensitive" about her age. Choosing the option that tells her she's 16 in the DialogueTree [[ActuallyPrettyFunny gets her to laugh and give you the boost instead]].

* ''Film/{{Kaamelott}}'': Merlin doesn't like to go around revealing his age, because it turns out he's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld (to the point where he stood to receive his age in gold pieces from the queen and still didn't want to).

* VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield: Opal's gym battle requires challengers to answer a quiz while battling. If they answer correctly, their pokemon's stats are boosted, but if it's wrong, the boost goes to Opal's team. However, correctly guessing Opal's age as 88 actually gives the boost to ''her'' team since she'd had preferred it if you were "a little more sensitive" about her age. Choosing the option that tells her she's 16 in the DialogueTree gets her to laugh and give you the boost instead.