Ageing, popular culture and contemporary feminism

by Imelda Whelehan

"The past decade has seen an increase in popular cultural representations of ageing, in response to the realities of an ageing Western population and an acknowledgement of the economic significance of consumption by seniors. Yet, while contemporary film often depicts late middle to old age as a time of renewal and acceptance, most popular depictions of ageing focus on images of loss, decline, and the fear of physically ageing 'naturally'. Ageing in popular culture is a battlefield, with an increasing range of euphemisms used to disguise the fact of age. Feminist discourse has kept forever...