Identity - age Flashcards
1
Q
What is age ?
A
- age is the only aspect of identity that all people will experience
- age is looked at chronologically
- seen in different stages
2
Q
What are the 5 major generational stages ?
A
- childhood
- adolescence
- young adulthood
- middle age
- old age
3
Q
What is the social dimension to age ?
A
- There are different norms, values or behaviours associated with different ages
4
Q
What did Aries say about age ?
A
Argued that in medieval times children were mini-adults who worked and had responsibilities
5
Q
What did Postman say about childhood ?
A
- ‘the disappearance of childhood’
- Childhood first emerged when parents could shield their children
- The emergence of media means that children are exposed to aspects such as sexuality
- Postman says this is a threat to childhood
- Will lead to the disappearance of childhood
6
Q
What is ageism ?
A
people who are stereotyped and discriminated against because of their age
7
Q
Can ageism affect everyone ?
A
yes
8
Q
What did Abrhams’s say ?
A
found 28% respondents had suffered from age discrimination
9
Q
What did Johnson and Bytheway say about ageism ?
A
- They define ageism as the ‘offensive exercise of power through reference to age’
- suggested 3 elements
- institutionalised - people over 75 years old excluded from jury service
- stereotypical - assumption that a person’s competency is limited by their age
- well meaning assumption - they are vulnerable and therefore need care and protection
10
Q
What did Hockey and James say about ageism ?
A
- say children are excluded from public places
- Children kept in nursery’s and schools
- They link old age and childhood and that the two are both socially constructed
- They talk about infantilisation as people in care homes have privacy taken away
- Not being able to behave like a normal adult is the self-fulfilling prophecy caused by infantilisation
11
Q
What did Sontag say about ageism ?
A
- in television women are expected to wear makeup and stop seeming as ‘old’
12
Q
What do postmodernists say about changing age identities ?
A
- postmodernists look at how age is fluid and less significant
- everyone is living for longer
13
Q
What featherstone and Hepworth say about age ?
A
- Post-modernists
- media images of ageing can be a source of new identity
- media doesn’t just created negative stereotypes
- as the population grows, more positivity around age is created
- E.g - retro fashion trends blurring the age boundaries
