Media, Ageing and the Politics of Representation

Dr Hoimawati Talukdar and Dr Aneesh K A, Countercurrents,  January 27, 2026 : One of the newer forms of social injustice at the turn of the century has been ageism, commonly known as age discrimination. It has been normalised as another form of exclusion similar to racism and sexism. A key concern, however, is how the fourth estate of a democracy represents its ageing population. The portrayal of old age in the mass media too plays a significant role in shaping public perceptions of ageing.

Population ageing has become a defining demographic trend of contemporary societies. Historically and culturally, ageing has relatively been associated with wisdom, authority, and family cohesion. Unfortunately, contemporary representations widely relate ageing with dependency, fragility, uselessness, or slowness. Such representational shifts are not merely descriptive but deeply political.

The representation of older adults in the media becomes increasingly important in this context. Media discourses shape individual and social perceptions, confirm and legitimise contextual narratives, and reinforce existing views and beliefs. It is widely accepted that media tend to frame ageing in a depleted sense, centring on illness, dependency, and economic or familial burden. At the same time, another representation of the ageing population has been portraying older adults as healthy, active, and youthful retirees. While appearing positive, these mediated representations portray an idealised and unrealistic vision of ageing. Such representations obscure diverse ageing experiences and generate undue social pressure. It shows how both positive and negative stereotypes can distort representations of ageing and restrict the opportunities of a balanced and inclusive society.

Ageing is a progressive process. With technological and scientific advances, we now have methods that can make ageing look younger and, to some extent, controlled. Ageing is a relative category socially interpreted across contexts. Stereotyped images on screen and in print media have their own influence on individual behaviour.

Advertisements by brands such as Olay, Neutrogena, L’Oréal Paris, Ponds, and Lakmé increasingly construct wrinkled skin as an age-related “problem”, thereby contributing to the expansion of the anti-wrinkle skincare market. Ingredients such as SPF 4, niacinamide, and panthenol have been rendered familiar to consumers and normalised through sustained and aggressive marketing strategies, often presented in ways comparable to everyday consumables. These representations encourage consumers across genders to participate in anti-ageing consumption practices, motivated by the promise of delaying visible signs of ageing and achieving a more youthful appearance.

Empirical studies establishing a direct causal relationship between media representations of ageing and behavioural change among audiences remain limited, particularly in the diverse socio-cultural context of India. There is an urgent need for the initiation of a media-ageing framework that goes beyond the obvious and natural binaries of decline versus success. Such a framework needs to critically interrogate the intersection of media narratives with political economy, market logics, and policy discourses to shape public understandings of ageing and well-being. Policy interventions risk reproducing the very exclusions they seek to find solutions for, without addressing the representational foundations through which ageing is imagined.

Reimagining the well-being of India’s ageing population thus demands not only improved social and health policies but also a sustained critique of how media, as a central institution of democracy, frames old age itself. Only by challenging these dominant narratives can a more inclusive and dignified vision of ageing be articulated. Addressing the mediation of old age in the public sphere, therefore, remains critical to understanding lives that are rendered visible, valuable, and governable.

Dr Hoimawati Talukdar

Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies, School of Social Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR Campus, India, Email ID: hoimawati@gmail.com

Dr Aneesh K A, 

Assistant Professor of Economics & Fellow, Centre for Studies in Population and Development (CSPD), CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR Campus, India