Social Representations of Ageing: Ageism, Image and Stereotypes

Ageism remains very common in traditional media, and there has been a significant increase in social media. This was highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as older adults were often portraired as “defenseless and expendable elderly people”, as well illustrated by the spread of the “#BoomerRemover” hashtag. As such, it is essential that we take concerted action into knowing how to communicate ‘ageing’, so that we can guarantee an environment of respect, empathy and solidarity between all generations. This is a challenge for all of us that should not only involve media professionals, but also decision-makers, academics and researchers, as well as, fundamentally, older adults themselves, who ought to be be increasingly committed to dissipate the stereotypes assigned to them.

The 13th Session of the InterAções Symposium seeks to better understand the roots of age-based steriotypes and identify strategies to deconstruct the myths and the preconceptions.