Introduction

This learning object is about ways in which people‘s experience of ageing and mental health are shaped by society‘s attitudes to old age and later life. You will consider the way age-related images and ideas – displayed in the media and in everyday language – shape our perceptions; but also what we know about older people‘s own attitudes and aspirations. We start with the images of ageing which surround us in our daily lives.

Attitudes to older people

Cultural images of ageing and older people in contemporary society are to be found in particular in the media – in newspapers and magazines, on television and in films. Older people are rarely shown in advertisements and they are under-represented on television (Rodwell et al, 1992). But when they do appear on screen it is usually in a stereotypical representation.

For example, as the grumpy, cantankerous older man - like Victor Meldrew in ‘One Foot in the Grave’, or Compo in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ - or as the eccentric old woman - Nora Batty, also in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’, or many older female characters down the years in ‘East Enders’ and ‘Coronation Street’.

Such images of old age may be light-hearted or comic, but they convey a negative message about the competence of older people. However, as you will see next, the mediaƕs most insidious and pervasive view is that old age is an undesirable state of being because it equates with loss of physical attractiveness.