Identity : Age

Question 1

give one reason why age groups have different cultures/identities

Answer 1

they are socialised differently and older generations values are seen as old fashijed

Question 2

what do interactionists argue about age as an identity

Answer 2

society labels age groups differently which may affect identity

Question 3

what did Featherstone and Wernick’s interactionist study find

Answer 3

greeting cards displayed societal distaste’s for ageing process
they convey “meanings” between social actors which affect identity

Question 4

who identified the five main age identities in the UK

Answer 4

Bradley

Question 5

what were the 5 main stages of age identity Bradley found in the UK

Answer 5

childhood
youth
young adulthood
mid life
old age

Question 6

describe the Bradley’s age identity of childhood

Answer 6

-regarded as innocent and parents encouraged to protect child
-state also regulates childhood with laws eg Children Acts, compulsory schooling age 5 and age 10 lowest criminal offence

Question 7

what does Aries argue about childhood

Answer 7

-it is a social construction that arose after the Middle Ages after kids were considered small adults

Question 8

what does Sue Palmer argue about childhood

Answer 8

-modern society has toxic childhood due to technological and cultural changes eg decline of outdoor play and screen saturation

Question 9

describe Bradley’s age identity of youth

Answer 9

-emerged during 50s, youth culture and fashion developed due to spending power from employment
-products developed for youth

Question 10

what did Cohen find about youth age identities

Answer 10

-mass media demonises youth eg with mods and rockers moral panic
-creates folk devils/ scapegoats / social problems out of youth

Question 11

what do Thornton and Savage find about mass media portrayals of youth

Answer 11

-condemned more than praised
-little evidence for moral generation gap and most teens are conformist

Question 12

what did Pilcher find about young adulthood age identity

Answer 12

-age group rarely researched
-identity revolves around living with partners, having children, jobs and maintaining home

Question 13

what do Jones and Wallace argue about young adulthood

Answer 13

-private and public markets signify adult status
-private = first sexual encounter/ cigarette
-public = right to vote or getting bank loan

Question 14

describe indicators or mid life age identity

Answer 14

-some say 35 some say 50 years old
-physical indicators eg greying hair, menopause
-social indicators eg children leaving home or mid life crisis

Question 15

describe Pilchers study on old age identity

Answer 15

-bc of life expectancy and diff generational attitudes there is a young old 65-74 a middle aged old 75-84 and an old old 85+

Question 16

are old age identities respected in modern society? why do marxists agree?

Answer 16

• NO as work is a major source of status and retirement leads to dec self esteem and rise in loneliness, poverty, depression etc
  -capitalism causes stigmatisation of old ppl as they do not contribute to economy

Question 17

how does Lambert argue age intersects with gender identity

Answer 17

-old men often portrayed as powerful, authoritative but not women
-eg newsreader pairings old men and young women