Aging, age, and elderly are words that cause unpleasant feelings, fear, and repulsion for most people. Aging brings many challenges for the elderly themselves, as well as the whole of society. Media images of the elderly play a central role in the perception of aging and the elderly in society. The problem is that the older people represented by the mass media are stereotyped. The purpose of the dissertation is to analyze the influence of mass media, how it represents older people and aging bodies, and the differences between aging women and men. In our work we have focused on the theoretical part and previous research, and we have tried to answer our research questions. When reviewing previous research, we found that older people in the mass media rarely appear but when they do, they are shown mainly in a negative light and in a stereotypical way. There are also differences in the presentation of older men and women with more pressure on the women, especially in connection with the appearance of an aging body, while men are considered to be more attractive over the years.
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