IDENTITY: AGE Flashcards
Why is childhood now seen as contradictory?
Children are either portrayed in the media as little angels and vulnerable victims or as little devils.
What does Postman state about childhood?
Childhood emerged only when the spread of literacy enabled adults to better shield children from various aspects of adult life.
What does Bradley argue about middle aged people?
Being middle aged has a higher status than youth or old age - middle aged people are running the country and hold power at work.
How can middle aged be seen as a negative time?
Associated with negative ideas such as a ‘mid-life crisis’ and ‘empty nest syndrome’.
What did Corner’s study show about the language used by older people to describe themselves?
Mostly negative, reflecting that used by the media and popular culture. Participants spoke about the ‘burden’ of the ageing population.
What do postmodernists suggest about changing age identities?
Look at trends such as living and working for longer, anti-ageing products and procedures, and the extension of ‘youth’.
What do Featherstone and Hepworth argue about changing age identities?
That media images of ageing have been a source of negative stereotypes and identities.
What does Biggs argue about age identity?
The elderly are still portrayed as ‘forgetful’ in the media.
Hockey & James - The infantilisation of the elderly
The origin of infantilising behaviour towards older people had been attributed to their perceived lack of independence.
Biggs - financial
Only those that can afford to re-create themselves are able to take on a new form of identity.
Palmer - “toxic childhood”
Focuses on fast food and addiction to video games, showing that the widespread of media is causing childhood to be lost.
Itzin - middle age women
Feel immense pressure to fight the signs of ageing and when they hit a certain age they feel it is necessary to improve their appearance.
Polhemus - youth
“supermarket of style” youths are taking aspects of any identity they want to.
Mead - Tcholbli tribe
Argued that ‘storm and stress’ associated with youth is ‘culturally specific’, therefore not found in all cultures.
