It seems to be being a particularly ageist day on Mumsnet today….

[CurlewKate]

or am I just being over sensitive….?

I hadn’t noticed today in particular, but I am frequently amused by some posters’ weird assumptions about what live in your fifties might look like. In fairness, it probably annoys me less than the wilful misnaming of ‘misanthropy’ as ‘introversion’. I mean, stay on your sofa alone for the rest of your life if that’s your bag, obviously, but don’t elevate it by misapplying a term you’ve misunderstood.

Just me then? There are at least 5 ageist threads on the active page-which seems more than usual…

Absolutely agree, I reported one earlier and got the usual fob off "We'll take a look" email. Absolutely rubbish moderation from Mumsnet in my opinion.

Its so normalised that I imagine most don’t bother to report it. I rarely do since seeing mod comments on a thread supporting factually incorrect generalisations from self appointed lobby groups about “wealthy boomers”, completely ignoring the plight of impoverished single women in this age group who are one of the groups most likely to be living in serious poverty.

I agree OP. We can definitely play ageism bingo solely with comments like "it's a generational thing" and their ilk.

I noticed it yesterday - everything from 'boomer parents' not using car seats properly to Nigel Farage's assholery being blamed on him being 'old'. He's 61.

Genuinely have not noticed this and I'm no spring chicken. The racism and ableism on the other hand...plus a nice sprinkling of single-mum-loads-of-kids bashing now the budget is here.

The "learned helplessness" thread is another one. The people the OP describes are in their 60s, but yet again, some posters suggest that it's a generational thing that women in their 60s are socialized to be completely dependent on their husbands.

I must admit that ageist threads do crop up fairly regularly on mn. I did complain once but nothing happened, so I just try not to read them any more.

Fucking hell, I'm 72, I'm not totally dependent on my husband!!! I handle all the accounts and household admin, I take an equal part in all DIY/gardening/decorating etc, and I can change a wheel on my car if necessary, in fact I'm willing to bet I'm a damn sight more practical and competent than a lot of the younger women who post on here!!!

Is Nigel Farage only 61??? Oh god, we could be listening to him for another decade before he retires...

Interesting most of you are giving examples of older groups being subject to ageism when I’d say it’s us lazy Gen Z’s who get most of it on here.

OP there is so much casual ageism on here (not just on here, but I find it particularly galling when women can't support women) - that it barely raises more than a sigh from me these days.
I should be unable to use a phone or computer (I used to write software). I'm probably racist (Rock against racism never happened)
I should excuse mens bad behaviour because that's my generation (never heard of feminism or had access to any feminist books in the early Jurassic).
I half expect people to ask me what it was like in the olden days.
And I dress like Nora Batty.
Punks, new romantics, never happened.
When people my age are nasty, it's because they are nasty. Or stubborn, ignorant, a CF, that's what they are. Just older.

That's crazy. They are attributing characteristics to my generation that I myself attributed to my grandparents' generation. (And, as I increasingly realise, it was ageist of me to interpret my own grandmothers in this way. Unfortunately it is only once we get older that we really understand the extremity of ageism that we have been operating with our whole life.)

Same for me and I'm a couple of years older than you. Well, except for the wheel/tire thing. I have AAA (in the US) for that. 😊

I blame the Royal Family. Everyone who supports them is elderly right? And if not they should be.

😊

At 68, I know me onions ha ha and have no great love for the RF either.

Loads of age-related post-budget bashing happening today.
Plus the generic ‘over-60s’ nonsense. There was a thread yesterday asking for holiday recommendations and the OP’s relative was 70 plus. So why not ask for 70+ recs?

In fairness to MNHQ, I have reported out and out slurs, like "old bag" that have been deleted. But I suppose it's not feasible to delete the more subtle ones that crop up on a regular basis. They are often challenged by posters on threads, so that's a good thing.

There are often references to the older age of someone who has done something the OP does not like that are completely irrelevant to the point of the thread. People do often respond with "What does age have to do with it?"

Ageism only works one on MNs because a lot of the users are older.

Wow that's so not true (not blaming you for repeating it)! (approaching 70 here and my generation of women got jobs and had careers! Yes I think it's Boomer Bashing day again.

Top post!

Oh well, here I am, an old crone of 68. Full of energy and good health. Plenty of money with my three pensions + State Pension.

I'm living the dream folks. Age is something to aspire to, not everyone is privileged enough to get there!

I’ve been accused of ageism and boomer bashing because I acknowledged that more older voters voted for Brexit and that house price ratio va salary was lower in the past 🤷🏻‍♀️

Isn't it every day ?

Envy is one of the 7 deadly sins.

That's deadly 😉