Successful Aging on Instagram? Gender, Age, and the "Rise of the Granfluencer"

This article investigates the phenomenon of the granfluencer at the intersection between age and gender. At first sight, the granfluencer seems to work against the notion that old age is inevitably accompanied by decay and a lack of productiveness. Yet, as “grandparents” become influencers, it seems that productiveness can be described only in terms of a neoliberal market economy. Taking the social media persona of Baddie Winkle as a case in point, I suggest that Winkle can be seen as both confirming and subverting assumptions of age at one and the same time. Drawing on the work of Margaret Morganroth Gullette as well as Susan Sontag’s “The Double Standard of Aging,” this article reads Winkle as a potential example of “Successful Aging” and asks whether there are ways of growing old beyond the dictates of neoliberalism. At the same time, Winkle can be seen to disprove assumptions of the alleged unattractiveness of older women by openly flaunting her sexuality. This may earn her clicks, and at the same time makes us see age (and gender) in an entirely new light.