Ageism on MN

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Ok so I expect this thread to be deleted because in part it will be a thread about several threads and mainly because MN has been turning a blind eye towards ageist posts.

Today I learned from MN that over 40s are elderly.
I've also learned that over 50s have lived their lives already and need to step aside to allow the younger generation to live.
I hate the daily mail but actually hope one of their journalists pick this up as MN doesn't seem to care

Just last week there was a pile-on against an OP in her 20s who asked for advice as she wasn't well. Lots of ageist comments.

It's not as if it's hard to find posts and comments about young people being idle, having no respect etc.

So it goes both ways.

I sometimes wonder whether posters have teen/20s DC, yet are here speaking so disparagingly of young people. Maybe a case of 'oh but not my Prince/Princess'

Yes, I expect this thread will be deleted.

Ageism very much works both ways on MN.

To me elderly isn't really a specific age, but more to do with how able someone is. You could be 80 and not yet elderly if you've looked after yourself and been blessed with good genes. I've seen 50 year olds that would fit my description of elderly.

But that's just my own personal view. Surely it's relative? Everyone thought 40 was really old at one point in their lives.

So it goes both ways.

Well, it doesn't really go both ways, in the sense that no-one "old" suggests that young people should lay down and die and get out of the way.

The original one was, but the quoted ones are still there and subsequent posts @RockingMyFiftiesNot.

Yep. I also hate term 'Generation z' really makes my teeth itch

@SylvieHortensis

MNHQ are ageist - they created Gransnet for the over 50s. It's grim and fortunately hasn't taken off.

Depending on where you are, well, my neighbour became a grandmother at 39.

Totally agree OP. Ageism is the only 'ism' allowed on MN.

A lot on here would like oldies to die off. Only after we have left all our money to them, of course, or those who provide unpaid childcare which is not appreciated but assumed are allowed to continue living until they outlive their usefulness.

I have no children to argue over who gets what when I die so my money will be spent on giving me the best care possible when I need it.

Maybe it’s just part of the confidence that comes from being in my 40s, but I just don’t care that some people on the internet think I’m old and unworthy. I know that I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. I can only hope they can make smart enough choices to survive in this brutal world and get to this point in life.

They are also just blatantly wrong. Most people in their 40s are still living active lives working and parenting young children. When I had to explain to my father in his 70s why I wouldn’t break the lockdown rules it was because I have a responsibility to be here for my child. If anything, we are the generation that needs to be protected the most.

No one is young forever, all the people who think as a person in their late 50s, that I should step aside(or worse) on some of the Covid19 threads, should all remember they will be my age and horror of horrors old themselves one day. It comes much quicker than you think. One thing this Pandemic has done is really opened my eyes to how sick, vulnerable, disabled and older people are really viewed. It's actually very worrying and pretty disgusting.

Report it. I do and MNHQ always remove the posts.

MN is frequently blighted by really horrible ageism, but MNHQ do delete if reported.

Childcare, caring for the elderly and most of the working population are 'older'. Yet from what I read it's like we sit on our ar* all day or go constant holidays. Yeah, right Ive never worked so hard and Ive been a carer and now I help out with childcare for my grandchild. If every older person decided to stop doing what they do, there would be no childcare and the country would grind to a halt.

I do think there are more older people on here than in the past, but yes, there is quite a bit of ageism and the vast majority of it is against older, not younger, people. MNHQ will delete posts that use ageist slurs like "old bag" when reported.

Covid has intensified ageism and prejudice against people with disabilities not just on MN but in lots of places.

Ageism and disabilism has been particularly highlighted with COVID. A current theme is to have the elderly pay young people back for COVID via their pensions, superannuation, and whatever else cushy they might have stowed away. It isn't enough that the old and vulnerable are the the most susceptible to the virus - the most likely to die and suffer long-term side-effects; they are now also being targeted in the hip-pocket in their retirement by vultures like this.

A current theme is to have the elderly pay young people back for COVID via their pensions, superannuation, and whatever else cushy they might have stowed away

Going to have a shock when they realise a lot of my age group haven’t got a pot to piss in.😀

It’s the ignorance and arrogance of youth...they know it all, yet, surprisingly, know very little. They’re best ignored.

@TheClaws

Ageism and disabilism has been particularly highlighted with COVID. A current theme is to have the elderly pay young people back for COVID via their pensions, superannuation, and whatever else cushy they might have stowed away. It isn't enough that the old and vulnerable are the the most susceptible to the virus - the most likely to die and suffer long-term side-effects; they are now also being targeted in the hip-pocket in their retirement by vultures like this.

I’ve noticed this as well. They can pay me back for their education etc then. I’ve no kids, so I’m paying for theirs.

Note, I don’t actually think this. But the ‘older people owe us’ attitude pisses me off.

And about the costs of Covid, the country only finished paying off the costs of WW2 in 2006. There’s no generation that has skipped about freely, unburdened by any weight of the past.

I have certainly noticed ageism on MN, because it’s a reflection of the increasing ageism in real life, and when mixed with misogyny it’s particularly nasty.

Ageism is not unique to MN it is everywhere probably because it’s the only thing that is not really considered abusive.

I agree.
I have often reported posts for blatant ( and not so blatant) ageism, either in attitude or language. They've usually been deleted, but the fact that they are there in the first place, and not seen in the same light as other "isms" speaks volumes.
And even on this thread we're getting the whataboutery of "works both ways".

Ageism is everywhere. My husband recently brought home a free magazine called 'over 50'. I glanced through it and it was full of adverts for funeral directors!

YANBU. MN is not the only place I've witnessed ageism. Ageism is rife in my workplace, ironically coming from senior management who are all 40+. Ageism is not the only problem there, however.

You should have seen some of the Covid threads, plenty of talk on how some lives are worth more than others.

There were some utterly foul and vitriolic threads along those lines. I just have to hope that none of the posters saying those sorts of things work in the “caring” professions, as that bodes ill for anyone over 60.

Apparently once you hit 60, you’re useless! News to me ...

Speaking As an over 50, I don't find MN unpleasantly agist at all.

the aspects of society I find ageist - I find daft so ignore.

It's pretty easy to choose not to be offended by mere opinions. People are allowed to have opinions I don't agree with. We can discuss or debate which is fine.

There's plenty of it about, but MNHQ usually steps on it.

Ageism was absolutely venomous on MN at the height of the lockdown on many of the Coronavirus threads.

The irony of calling the over 40s elderly. How far are they from the state pension?