I do note with interest that old women in my books become young women on the covers... this is discrimination against the chronologically gifted.
Interpretation
This quote humorously highlights how society often overlooks the value and beauty of older women.
Terry Pratchett cleverly points out the discrimination faced by older women in literature and media, where the portrayal often favors youthfulness. By contrasting the age of characters in his books with the younger images on their covers, he critiques societal standards that devalue the experiences and wisdom of older individuals while using humor to raise awareness about ageism.
In practice
During a speech on gender equality, one might use this quote to discuss ageism in media.
And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.
They've got something they do it with, I think it's called a mocracy, and it means everyone in the whole country can say who the new Tyrant is. One man ... one vet. ... Everyone has ... the vet. Except for women, of course. And children. And criminals. And slaves. And stupid people. And people of foreign extraction. And people disapproved of for, er, various reasons. And lots of other people. But everyone apart from them. It's a very enlightened civilization.
Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.
You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.
Any fool could be a witch with a runic knife, but it took skill to be one with an apple corer.
People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the other. They don't look quite like real science. But geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it, and meteorology is full of excitingly fashionable chaos and complexity. And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.
Yes, some people say to me you're too skinny, but never a skinny person says that to me, only people who could lose a few pounds say that.
A girl in the convertible is worth five in the phone book.
Last night, we did the Threatdown -- God, it's hard to even talk about this -- and for the first time, I didn't mention bears. It's winter, they're asleep, I didn't think it would be a problem. But today I see this in the Toronto Globe and Mail -- apparently a 700-pound polar bear showed up at a children's hockey game. I've said this before, they're after our kids -- they're tender, juicy, you don't even have to throw away the bones.
There is little success where there is little laughter.
Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.
Oh, for a pin that would puncture pretension!
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