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Images of ageing
How are ageing and older people portrayed in the media?
Think about the question above whilst you read thorugh the following pages.
Film
A study of contemporary American films, found gender differences in the way older people are portrayed. Older men are more likely to be portrayed as central to the action or plot, to be shown as vigorous and adventurous, whereas older women are either more peripheral to events, or are just someone’s wife or mother, or a lonely spinster. Once actresses reach middle age the supply of film roles becomes limited - comprising, according to one film critic, ‘saintly mother, drunken hag, mad bag-lady, or senior bitch’.
It now seems that even older male film stars - e.g. Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson - find themselves restricted to a diet of ‘three or four old guy stereotypes’. Oscar winner James Coburn reflected at age 69 that, as he has grown in experience and competence, his roles have diminished. As he noted "At my age it’s rare you get really good parts. They throw us the crumbs now that we know how to do it." It remains to be seen whether the recent celebration of portrayals of older women by Helen Mirren and Judi Dench represents the begining of a lasting change in media perceptions.
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Images of ageing
TV
Older people are under-represented on television. But when they do appear on screen it is usually in a stereotypical representation. For example, as the grumpy, cantankerous older man - like Victor Meldrew in 'One Foot in the Grave', or Compo in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ - or as the eccentric old woman - Nora Batty, also in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ - or many older female characters down the years in ‘East Enders’ and ‘Coronation Street’.
Such images of old age may be light-hearted or comic, but they convey a negative message about the competence of older people. However, as you will see next, the media’s most damaging and destructive view is that old age is an undesirable state of being because it equates with loss of physical attractiveness.
Cards
Over 2 billion birthday cards are sold in the UK each year and many make fun of people of advancing age or reinforce stereotypes with regards to the perceived negative aspects of growing old.
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Images of ageing
Advertising
In our media-saturated society there is an overwhelming emphasis on the desirability of a youthful appearance - particularly for women, but increasingly for men too, as youth is equated with attractiveness. The other side of this desire for a youthful appearance is that a negative view of the appearance of ageing is also conveyed. This is clearly seen in the advertisements which rarely feature older people or, if they do, it is to portray negative aspects of getting old.
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Language and Ageing
As we have seen images in the media exert considerable pressure on us to keep looking young for as long as possible. This pressure operates more on women than men in our culture and has been called the double standard of ageing (Sontag, 1972).
However, television and film images are only one part of the story. Another is the everyday language we use about ageing and old age. This is seldom neutral. It conveys values, or moral statements - through ideas and images which are either positive or negative. These may mislead in just the same way as the visual media.
On the next screen you are going to explore how this works.
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Language of ageing
However, television and film images are only one part of the story. Another is the everyday language we use about ageing and old age. This is seldom neutral. It conveys values, or moral statements – through ideas and images which are either positive or negative. These may mislead in just the same way as the visual media.
Now you are going to explore how this works. Consider the various words commonly used to describe older people’s mental health capacity. Some you will regard as positive and some negative. Look at the list below and think about the words that may be used to describe older people:
- Gaga
- Wise
- Mature
- Judicious
- Experienced
- Confused
- Senile
- Old Fogey
- Cautious
- Forgetful
- Grumpy
- Slow
- Withdrawn
- Irritable
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Language and Ageing
Your list of negatives was almost certainly longer than the positives, look at the example below:
Positive
- Wise
- Mature
- Judicious
- Experienced
Negative
- Confused
- Senile
- Old Fogey
- Cautious
- Forgetful
- Grumpy
- Slow
- Withdrawn
- Irritable
Such negative ways of describing older people’s mental capacity are prevalent in our society because they reflect the false belief that mental decline is inevitable; and their everyday use reinforces that view. The word ‘senility’ is particularly powerful in this respect, because it conjures up an image of a dreaded final stage in the ageing process. But this image of decline should not be mistaken for the reality of old age as it is experienced by most older people.
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There is a danger here of a self-fulfilling prophecy,(this is the process by which culturally accepted norms and stereotypes fulfil themselves, or, in other words we expect something to be a certains way, so it turns out that way)older people and those who work with them expect there to be a decline, so instances of forgetfulness may be interpreted as a sign of cognitive deterioration. As a result of such labelling, stimulation in day care and residential homes may be withdrawn and so the result is decline, the condition the label claims to describe in the first place.
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Old age in the past
Throughout recorded history there has been a ‘deep ambivalence’ about old age. Fear and contempt have existed alongside respect and affection (Thane, 2006). In fact, historians have debunked the myth of ‘a golden age’ when older people were revered. They have found that where old people have been highly respected in the past it is not for the physical appearance of age but for their wealth and power. (Bond and Corner, 2004).
Then as now, older people who are active and successful – such as Winston Churchill who became wartime Prime Minister at the age of 65 – were seldom seen as ‘old’.
There is also a continuity in traditional and contemporary images of ageing in the portrayal of frailty and dependency. Will today’s rising number of active and affluent older people lead to the media and the public choosing more positive images and words to represent later life? That will depend on the stereotypes of old age – to be considered next – becoming discredited.
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Stereotypes of old age
Inherent in everyday commonly expressed attitudes about ageing are representations of old people as a group. There are known as stereotypes (Victor, 1987) (A stereotype is a distorted representation of a group of people and may be wither negative or positive). Stereotypes may be positive or negative, but they involve over-simplification or exaggeration, and generalisation.
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Stereotypes of old age
Look at the list below that shows 4 popular views about ageing. Do you agree with any of them? If not, why might you disagree?
- The old cannot learn (‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’)
- Older people are ‘past it’ when it comes to sex
- Old age brings mental deterioration and decline
- Older people can’t acquire new technological skills
When you are finished click Next to see the facts that relate to each statement.
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Stereotypes of old age
- The old cannot learn (‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’)
In fact, several thousand older people have studied for an OU degree and those in the 60-64 range are the most successful in any age group (Slater, 1995).
- Older people are ‘past it’ when it comes to sex.
It is a myth that older people are no longer interested in sex and sexuality and no longer engage in sexual activity. Age per se is no barrier although there can be changes in the patterns of sexual activity (Gott, 2005).
- Old age brings mental deterioration and decline
Some memory changes are associated with normal ageing but these are not severe or disabling. Dementia and other mental disorders are illnesses which affect only a minority of the older population as well as other age groups (Slater, 1995).
- Older people can’t acquire new technological skills
More than a third of people over 55 are now using the internet, a figure that is steadily increasing, through special initiatives like the annual Silver Surfers’ day which introduces older people to new technologies (BBC News, 2005).
Having seen these, would you change any of your views?
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Stereotypes of old age
There are three main assumptions underlying the old age stereotypes:
- older people are all the same
- old age is a state of inevitable decline
- older people are dependent and a burden on society
These assumptions are contradicted by the evidence of diversity in the composition, health and social circumstances of the older population.
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Stereotypes of old age
But such attitudes still have consequences for the way older people are treated in service and care settings. Consider, for example, the following statements by care workers:
'Younger people need new things. They need to get out more. Older people are more content'
'He’s growing old gracefully. We can’t be so hard now, he can relax. (It’s) easier with younger (people) they’re not as set in their ways'
(Walker and Walker, 2002)
The consequence of such stereotypical beliefs is that older people are not treated as individuals. There is also a danger of the self-fulfilling prophecy discussed earlier. At their worst such attitudes can lead to active discrimination against older people.
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Stereotypes of old age
Ageism (the most well-known defintion is Robert Butler’s (1987): ‘Ageism is defined as a process of systematic stereotyping of, and discriminations against, peope because they are old, just as racism and sexism acomplish this for skin and gender.’) is the term given to this process of systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people because they are old. The way it works is that a single characteristic – age – is singled out and becomes the basis for assumed incompetence in one or more areas of life. It’s rather like racism and sexism, except of course in the case of ageism, the single characteristic is age rather than skin-colour or gender.