Everyone has seen the commercials, television shows, and movies: Life Alert portraying older Americans as being afraid for their lives with an almost comical slogan of “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” The Golden Girls with their typical silly old woman antics and witty comments. Even Disney has not been immune to stereotyping our aging Americans as indicated by the grumpy, lonely old man in Up. Our society is struggling with a rampant bout of Ageism, and most people don’t even realize that it is happening or that ageism is even a real concern. The purpose of the Organization for the Awareness of Media Portrayal of Older Americans (OAMPOA) is to bring public attention to the perhaps unintentional defamation of older adults and to offer …show more content…
There are several ways to go about achieving this goal. Information about ageism can easily be distributed in the form of a website or even a television commercial. Ageism will be defined by the organization as the discrimination against a certain group of people based on their age and the OAMPOA will explain that it is as relevant today as both racism and sexism. Many older people have been denied the opportunity to get a job based on the stereotypes they have been labeled with, such as grumpiness, laziness, and an inability to learn new skills especially with regards to technology. Furthermore, countless people do not even realize that they have been labeling the older population in such a manner. In many cases, none of the labels are true and plenty of older adults are genuinely nice people, like to keep busy with the work they do, and are enthusiastic about learning just the same as everybody …show more content…
People rarely ever see a commercial with an older adult advertising an everyday product such as cookware or a department store, and if they are, it is almost exclusively a product for the ageing population. Most of the commercials for older adults have to do with medications to help with some disease only common in older people, or creams to get rid of wrinkles, or products for frail seniors who can’t be alone in the house without having a life-altering accident, or even adult diapers. They are either portrayed as being ashamed of their age and looks, or as being so old and sickly that they don’t have time to care about their looks anymore. Neither of these conclusions drawn is accurate for the majority of the older population and it is demeaning for people to believe them to be correct. In all actuality, our aging population is very active in this day and age, and they enjoy a lot of the same activities that we do. Just because they have reached the age of sixty-five does not mean that they are suddenly dead to society and can’t shop, go to the beach, eat candy, or have fun in general, and it is time for our advertising to reflect these truths. The OAMPOA will personally campaign to major advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Target, and other well-known companies to include older adults in more commercials. It is possible for these
The truth about how sex among older adults is portrayed in the media and popular culture is simply that it is not portrayed very often in these mediums. Preadolescents and adolescents tend to receive much of the sexualization that is used in these mediums while the elderly tend to never get portrayed doing these types of activities. This can be attributed to the media's presentation of the perfect human specimen, man or woman; of which most elderly people do not satisfy as they have wrinkles, sagging skin, more skin marks (moles, freckles) and overall are not attractive by the media's standards. Older people have the life experience and intelligence to ignore such impositions and therefore, it does not affect their sexual lifestyle. To the
Aging, the process of developing or growing old; the progression of changes in appearance (American Heritage Dictionary, 2007). The role of the media is to educate and inform as well as other masses; the senior population suffers greatly from negative stereotyping than any other age group. Some media outlets portray aging in a stereotypical way relating old age to death or disease. This essay reflects on how older Americans are portrayed through the different media outlets.
Ageism can affect both the youth and the elderly, but in today’s times it is mainly focused on the elderly. The elderly are constantly harassed, judged, and stereotyped for their age. The elderly are viewed as disabled, has-beens, and basically serve no propose, instead of being viewed as wise, bold, experienced, and valuable. In the article “Putting The
Committee on Aging, United States Senate, 101st Cong. (1990). (Serial No. 101-J). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Merriam-Webster (1980) defines Ageism: any attitude, action, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of age or any assignment of roles in society purely based on age; ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. Discrimination towards the elderly is apparent throughout society. Society has a negative stereotype related to perceptions on aging. We live in a youth-oriented society that does not view the elderly with respect and dignity due to today’s culture and media. The emphasis that are put on ‘staying young’ are enforced on every level. From plastic surgery to every way you could think of to stay ‘young and healthy’ is everywhere you look. The outlook on growing old is a stigma. The stereotypes that are put on older people can be done subconsciously a variety of ways in our everyday life. A few of these stereotypes are: older people are lousy drivers, they are grouchy, weak and incapable. How many times have you been driving behind an elderly person and became aggravated. Or standing behind an older person checking out at a store, they are older, it takes them a little longer to do things. Or even in the ways people speak about the elderly and the negative energy that goes along with it. If you start to pay attention to it, you will start to realize how common it actually is. These characterizations allow our society to disregard the geriatric population and who they really are. There are numerous quality-of-life issues
The news is flooded with stories of negative acts of racism, along with arguments regarding sexism and stereotypical gender roles. While major steps have been taken toward a more unified, accepting country, the United States continues to still lack correct knowledge and understanding to one of the most common “isms” in the country: ageism. Ageism is defined in Aging, the Individual, and Society as “the prejudiced behavior of individuals and systems within the culture against older adults, including negative consequences of inaccurate stereotyping of the elderly” (Hillier & Barrow, 2015, p.11). As a result of prejudice, myths tend to form about the stereotyped group of people. Facts and Fiction about an Aging America by The MacArthur Foundation
There are age restrictions on everything from buying lighters to purchasing alcoholic beverages. There are restrictions on watching movies and donating plasma. These restrictions are meant to, in a way, protect the younger people from making mistakes or being influences by things they don’t fully understand or could be harmed by. One of the most debated restrictions could possibly be the Alcohol age restrictions. The legal age in the United States to consume and purchase alcohol is 21. This age cutoff is quite unneeded. It becomes more of a temptation and a danger than if the restriction were simply altered to a lower age.
Ageism is described by "Ageism in America is Hurting Us All, a webpage about senior living, as “a prejudice against older people” ("Ageism in America is Hurting Us All). Provided by the same source, it is explained that “according [to] the World Health Organization, ageism is most rampant in high-income countries, like the United States” ("Ageism in America is Hurting Us All). According to "Ageism in America is Hurting Us All, they found, in a study, that 70% of older Americans concur they had been insulted or mistreated, because of their age. Furthermore, American Society on Ageing, a website giving knowledge about older adults, reported “the term ‘ageism’ was coined in 1969 by Robert N. Butler, M.D., [at the time was a 42-year-old psychiatrist]”
An example of these negative stereotypes exists within the media. For instance, less utilized older women and men within television and advertisements (Leon-Guerrero). When an older generation actor is utilized in a television commercial, it is generally a negative or their actions are characterized as frail or weak. The aging population often feels a loss of dependency, not because they feel themselves they are not capable but society is classifying them as incapable. Furthermore,
The aging of society has not significantly changed our perceptions of the elderly. Ageism is widespread in Western societies (Dionigi, et al, 2011). Older adults are seen as boring, grumpy irritable, weak, debilitated, mournful, and most significantly cognitively. These stereotypes which are negative can be allowed by the aged themselves negative self-stereotyping (Dionigi, et al, 2011) and are as well found among specialized caregivers (e.g., Cowan, Fitzpatrick, Roberts, & While,2004). The image in relation to which older adults are more ineffectual than younger adults is predominantly dominant. Nevertheless, in a variety of domains, older adults are inclined to have analogous performances and at times even do better than younger
Television shows, ads, and movies compromise our national image of the elderly. “Television shows often depict the older relative as doddering and feeble...” (Lauren Stiller Rikleen). In many movies and shows, elders are shown as churlish and sickly.
People may have different reactions to how the media portrays older adults however it’s apparent that many times these stereotypes are not all fun and games and can actually be detrimental for the ageing population. Society may not realize that by continuing to generalize and stereotype older adults in the media it’s creating larger issues. A major issue I notice is that the media is also a form of education and for those who did not already have preconceived ideas about the ageing population; the media can then sway them to view older adults as such.
This is a society of isms, racism, sexism, and ageism. It labels, stereotypes, and categorizes people, by shape, size, color, and age. The elderly in their later years should be able to have a peaceable life, treated with dignity and respect. However, pretty much anyone under the age of 50 is a target for an attack of an attitude of ageism at some point. Those who do the disrespecting don’t stop to consider that at some point, they will also be at the receiving end of that attitude.” (Webb)
Our youth oriented culture has developed a fear and prejudice against aging persons and unquestionably against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), intellectually and physically disabled seniors, and people of a certain faith and spiritual beliefs. The ability to distinguish, fear and prejudice based upon myths and misconceptions from truths and facts about older adults are vital to eldercare success.
Stereotypes have an overwhelming effect especially on the people they are directed towards. Studying stereotypes helps in understanding the factors leading to discrimination of certain people and not others. This is because stereotypes are depictive of opinions that are often passed from one generation to another within a particular culture. Mass media such as television and newspapers form a common source of opinions in the contemporary society (Kotter & Hess, 2012). The media presents messages in steady, repetitive, and compelling manner, making them believable to almost everybody. Stereotyping opinion and depictions from the media can thus have detrimental effects on the