Masculinities and Ageing: Deconstructing Online Representations Among Portuguese Speaking Users

Abstract

Media and social media perform a pivotal role in the construction of social reality and shared meaning. As social representations, gender and age identities are included in those dynamics, per se and interacting with each other. This article aims to analyse the complexity, non-linearity and hybridity of representations of men and age within today’s digital realm. Stemming from an intersectional and feminist approach, this article explores how Twitter users represent older men in their posts, assessing whether these representations promote or hinder respectful ageing relationships and gender equality. How do Portuguese-speaking online users’ representations of men and masculinities interact with age and ageism? To put the analysis forward, data were extracted from Twitter and analysed through quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Data showed that intersection between masculinities and age among Portuguese speaking twitter users is low concerning the number of times that “men” and “old” are used in the same tweet text. However, data also showed that when patriarchal discourses intersect with ageism, they tend to perpetuate stereotypes, hindering egalitarian relationships concerning age and gender.