REPRESENTING OLD AGE IN THE MEDIA AND POPULAR DISCOURSE

Abstract

This paper looks at representations of old age in the media, policy and medicine and their role in shaping the role and meaning of old age more generally. Taking a historical view, it traces the bifurcation of good and bad old age into today's distinction between biological versus chronological ageing reflecting in the youthfulness of the third age versus the senescence of the fourth. However, since 2008 in particular the chronological or calendar classification has been assuming priority in the UK in particular in discussions of austerity politics, intergenerational justice, and the decision to leave the EU, where we find a strong theme of blaming the 'old' as obstructive to the well-being and progress of younger generations (and by implication society as a whole). This development in the 'progressive' press in particular has been taking the form of substituting age war for class conflict as a foundational structure for social inequality. We look at the role medicine and science as well as counter images found in different socio-historical contexts and in the media might help with imagining a more positive role for old age and a more harmonious relationship between ages and stages more generally.