Discussing the intimate details of personal lives is shunned of those above the age of 55, especially in women. With the growing number of senior citizens, I believe their representation should be accurate and not based on stereotypes caused by media, television, and film. In 1903, there were only 3 million Americans who were fifty-five or over. This year the figures reached 60 million and plans to double by the 2030. Senior citizens make up 21% of the United States population (Wikler 210). However, with the life span increasing, more and more emphasis is placed on youth. Younger generations, including children, teenagers, young adults and the middle-aged, control media, television, and film. Consumerism can be to blame, however this is becoming more prominent in today’s world because younger generations hold media directly in the pocket, purse, or backpack, acting as a personal remote for their youth aimed dominate objective. This emphasis on youth has created stereotypes of the older generations, the seniors of our society. Stereotypes are born through media and now perpetuated immediately as younger generations continue to press send, upload, share, or post. Ageism has continued as middle-aged citizens turn into senior citizens, cycling through generation after generation. As a society, there seems to be a fear of aging because it makes us feel powerlessness, it creates body disabilities and malfunctions, its inability to race around, be important, and to take care of itself (Thone Preface). We feel no longer in control of our bodies while we age, but we are in control of our bodies for much longer than society, media, and advertisements lead us to believe. Ageism doesn’t only hurt seniors now, but will hurt younger generati... ... middle of paper ... ...ether senior women are in fact asexual, for a variety of reasons, or if they are culturally seen as past their prime, with society forcibly declaring women above the age of 55 asexual. Senior women are losing their identity to the representation of however media desires to perpetuate. In fact, only four in every ten women on screen are aged over 40, meaning women 55 and over are seeing even less screen time. There is an absenting of women through the media lens, whether television, film, or broadcasting, there is a lack of opportunities and presence of senior women, even less with older women exuding sexual interests. The media industry claims that bringing in younger women to the screen refreshes the brand, creating a problematic sphere for women, not only on losing their share of screen time, but it narrates that senior women do not have a place in our society.
She said that our media climate mostly provides a very misleading mirror of our lives and of our gender, therefore, she emphasized there must be a change to that. Examples, of the media companies she highlighted are; television, radio, publishing, games, and so on. She said, they use a very stiff segmentation approach in order to understand their audiences. Which is an old school demographics, and end up coming up with these very restraining labels to define the public. In addition to that, is the media companies trust that if you fall within a certain demographic category then you are likely in certain ways, as well as having certain taste, and like certain things. (Blakely, September 29,
In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that feminism is a direct result of the realization that mass media is a deliberate and calculated aggression against women. While the media seemingly begins to acknowledge the power of women, it purposely sets out to redefine women and the qualities by which they should define themselves. The contradictory messages received by women leave women not only in a love/hate relationship with the media, but also in a love/hate relationship with themselves.
Diane Gibson discusses how the generally negative examples of older women in media is due to the reflection of actual societal values that disenfranchises women in the real world, further reinforcing these negative images (Gibson 1996). Jodi Brooks acknowledges the marginal roles that are relegated to older women who not only carry their physical age but their social age, burdened to represent themselves in their prime while trying to inhabit the present (Brooks 1999). Some of these negative media representations commonly include: the invisibility of older women, the sexual ineligibility of older women, the aversion to older women, and the tendency to turn these older women into villains (Dolan 2003). The invisibility of older actresses can be understood as Josephine Dolan describes: “...the pattern of refusing to cast older female stars in significant roles, or casting them as marginal characters or as pathological figures,” (Dolan 2003, p 343), Dolan explains the exclusion of older women in lead roles as the combination of male gaze and youthful gaze, expecting both mainstream femininity and “natural” youthfulness. Older actresses often seek surgery and procedures that alter their appearances to preserve youth and flaunt a “successful aging” by defining what it means to age (Dolan
are old.” Individuals should have some understanding of the of what the term ageism but maybe
This is due to the simple fact that “there’s an 18-34 demographic desirability locked into corporate America’s mindset” (Quinlan 53). As a CEO of an advertising agency, Mary Quinlan can identify very well with the lack of mature women in the media. She relates to us, “I’ve sat in too many casting sessions where I’d hear, ‘We need one older woman to round out these models.
Aging is universal and it is a process that everyone has to go through. The only difference is that everyone goes through this process at their own pace influenced by factors that will be discussed later on in this paper. When we think about factors that have an influence on older adults and how their life may be affected, we must consider the different social institutions while analyzing influences from social factors, cultural factors, and personal values. Abuse to older adults, stereotyping and informal care and technological advancements that affect older adults are the three topics that will be discussed in this reflection. Furthermore, will connect the three topics I have chosen to the knowledge that I have gained from my interaction
While there are some examples of movies portraying aging in a positive light, more often movies and the media portray aging as negative. The movie ‘The Intern’ is an example of this. In the movie a company creates an intern position for a senior citizen, which they hope will assist with their company image. The company hires a 70-year-old male. There are many negative stereotypes and points where aging is viewed negatively within the movie, including the technology gap, where the intern cannot use emails or create a facebook account, the intern carries an old 70s style briefcase
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
A stereotype is defined as ‘an exaggerated and often prejudiced view of a type of person or group of people’ (Novak, Campbell, & Northcott, 2014, pg. 5). Stereotypes often develop from observations/information that tend to not be true. If they turn out to be true then they are exaggerated and distorted. Further, if someone is found who does not fit the stereotype they are considered to be an exception. Some stereotypes positively portray the elderly but most have a negative impact. This can create prejudice and discrimination towards the elderly which can negatively impact their quality of life (Novac et al., 2014).
Journals along with our textbook speak upon how important it is to learn about gerontology and the efforts social workers can assemble to secure a positive experience. Many social work institutes recognize the current aging process related to many aspects and continue to research future commodities and resources for older adults. The population of older adults will continue to flourish leading to 72.1 million older persons by 2030, drastically growing from the year 2000. (Glicken) As well as the population increasing, the lifespan of older adults is believed to go well beyond 120 years of age.(Glicken) Many older adults have served younger generations without looking for compensations which makes me suggest that it is only fair to treat older adults with dignity and respect. Aging in the Know states that it is important to understand that each older person is unique and acknowledging environmental factors and/or genetics is important in finding situations that corresponds with the individual and their experiences. I’m sure nursing homes, texts, articles, etc. agree that promoting a healthy lifestyle for older adults is valuable. Pat...
The term “ageism” is not easily understood by most of the population because of its acceptance as normal behavior due to the ingrained attitudes that most people develop in their youth, but health care workers must fully embrace the term within their profession in order to avoid becoming a contributor to the historical prevalence of prejudices and discrimination. The term ageism is defined by Klein and Liu (2010) as “the discrimination of individuals based solely on age” (p. 334). “Ageism is a social construct that is internalized in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals” (Klein & Liu, 2010, p. 334). Robert Butler, a well-known gerontologist, coined the term “ageism” citing that the discrimination and prejudice associated with this term is often based on the lack of a person’s experience with older people (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). Ferrini and Ferrini (2013) refer to the strong influence that cultural beliefs and attitudes as well as a person’s current age influence the perception of aging (p. 6). Everywhere within society there are influences that encourage ageist attitudes such as media conveyances through movies, books, television, greeting cards, magazines and the Internet (Ferrini and Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). These negative connotations related to growing older begin to influence all people at a very young age and therefore impact their attitudes as they make career decisions. This has directly impacted the number of health care providers who specialize in geriatrics as well as the attitudes of those who do provide services for older adults. These false perceptions and negative attitudes are currently impacting the q...
In today’s society, what was once said to be true and taken as fact regarding older people is no longer the whole story. As Laslett states, “At all times before the middle of the twentieth century and all over the globe the greater part of human life potential has been wasted, by people dying before their allotted time was up.” (1989a), and to a great extent a lot
Segar, Linda. When Women Call The Shots: The Developing Power and Influence of Women in Television and Film. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996. Print.
As we look through generations the perception of the elderly has changed almost every decade. It is evident that we all have different opinions on who may be measured old and young due to our era of time. However, we all come to one conclusion, there is a certain age that we believe is old. Some may consider old age 40, others may say 90. As I think about this, I consider all the people in my life that are older than my own age. I flip back like a photo album and stop on my grandparents. I have one grandma who is 65 and another that is 84. Comparing these two ladies is the easy part because they are so different but when it comes to their age they are both few of the people I know who have young souls. So how could I name them old? Let me inform you about their daily lives, then let us consider again if we believe they are old. Starting with grandma #1, she is 65 years old, travels the US and spends more time on the tennis court than in her own home. Sounds something that a 20 year old would do, doesn’t it? On to grandma #2, she is 84, she walks the streets of St. Louis every day,...
Aging is about the experiences and there are several chapters in older people’s lives. We can learn from the elderly and their lives. (Tappen, 1981). The interview was very interesting to discover how people thought and lived in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition, how hard it was to get opportunities to get educated and get a job. People were stricter about specific topics such as sexual orientation, morality, sex. The majority of older people lived in poverty, and they married underage, as well as they had a lot of children. Also, older people had to do hard work because they don’t have a chance to get a college degree. Parenthood was very different in these days, and they were stricter to their children, and the