Age Identity Flashcards
Thornton
Category
Agent
Description
Age
Media
Creates youth culture and range of identities e.g music and adverts, grumpy old men
Muncie
Category
Agent
Description
Age identity
Media
Often stereotypes age categories and presents youth as deviant and troublesome
Middle age is a crisis period
Old age is seen as a period of loneliness but Helen Mirren is a positive role model and it’s now changing and influencing popular culture
Cohen
Youth demonised by media and their behaviour is exaggerated to create moral panics and folk devils.
Griffin
Youth seen as a dysfunctional social problem for not showing self control or being properly socialised as suffering from a deficit because they do not achieve academically due to deviant rule breaking
BUT studies show most young people are conformist as get on well with parents, place value on education and traditional goals
Sontag
Double standard of ageing in television as woman are required to look youthful but men are not
Moira Stewart
Age identity in media
Claimed that she was a victim of ageism at the BBC
Fiona Bruce
States that women have to be attractive to be on BBC news
Workplace and the hegemonic man
May feel loss with no job and experience a crisis of masculinity
Arber and Ginn
BUT Giddens
Ageism exists towards the elderly although laws are on their side and anti-ageist policies e.g now people can work over 65
BUT retirement is 3rd age and time for new interests, skills etc. Now known as active ageing
Jones et al
Feminists place undue burdens on women who may already be looking after elderly parents
Early retired embraced new opportunities and actively involved in looking after grandchildren, adopting new roles etc.
Grundy and Henretta
Sandwich generation
Longer life expectancy means middle age parents may be stuck between children and looking after elderly parents despite being close to retirement age themselves
Youth is not easily identifiable because …
They have hybridity of age, class and identity
SKI ING
Spending kids inheritance from occupational pension
Alan and Crow
Becoming a grandparent gives older people a new lease of life
Victor
Stereotypes old age as lonely, unable to learn, poor health and dependancy but doesn’t apply to the young elderly
