What does it mean to be “of age” or to be deserving of political inclusion? Kiwis who are too young either to vote or to be taken seriously by adults often undertake actions which are quietly political anyway. For example, climate-conscious teens have started shopping second-hand and forgone meat. In fact, they make it cool, inviting others to follow. Such political actions are often discredited as shallow or useless.* But youths only do these seemingly-meaningless things because they have neither the legislative power nor the resources to inform others about their politics. Young Kiwis such as Lourdes Vano have proven they do have the intelligence to make political actions when they can, simply in an untraditional form.
Age as a social construct is an excellent way to divide and unite people. Therefore, Jennifer Frost’s intention to encourage youth voting in her book on the 26th Amendment is a great uniting tool. The way a story is told is just as important as the story itself, and so Frost’s intelligent use of alternative sources (such as songs) and consultation with student scholars are central to her story’s purpose. She’s out-researched most historians, who have ignored this valid information which has come directly from cultural politics.
Frost’s book is a political act in itself, as it challenges traditional forms of activism. This act will empower our future voters to gain that confidence to demonstrate loudly, rather than quietly.
* For example, when I delivered a 12-slide, 1000-word PowerPoint presentation to my household on why we should halt all our consumption of meat and swap our dairy products for oat-milk substitutes to help save the planet, suddenly nobody wanted to help any longer. Pretty unfair.
