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‘Our members are growing up!’: contradictions in ageing talk within a lifelong learning institute

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2019

Summer C. Roberts
Summer C. Roberts*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Bluffton, South Carolina, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Whether encouraging successful ageing or labelling one as a stereotypical senior citizen, messages surrounding ageing pervade the daily lives of older adults. However, as a social status, age remains primarily in the background of older adults’ conversations, only being drawn into the focus when one is identified as older. This paper draws on interviews with members and staff of an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in the southeastern United States of America in order to examine the ways that they discuss age and ageing. These older adults’ ageing talk often focused on navigating away from negative ideas about age and avoiding labels deemed pejorative. Humour was occasionally used in identifying age, which carried potential for reinforcing as well as subverting ageism. Yet, members highlighted positive value in being older, particularly as demonstrated through participation in age-segregated education. Overall, these findings reflect the conflicting influences of deeply embedded ageist beliefs and personal desires to age successfully among this group of white, upper-middle-class, educated older adults. Ultimately, OLLI served as a protective environment for these privileged individuals, shielding the self from stereotypes otherwise present in ageing talk.

Keywords

ageing talksuccessful ageingageism
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , April 2021 , pp. 836 - 853
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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