Topic 6.5 - Representations of Ethnicity, Age and Social Class

Representations of Age
1. Media representations of different groups of people based on age (i.e. children, youth and elderly), stereotypes of these age groups will often be used
  1. The media encourage audiences to assume that specific representations in terms of image and behaviour can be applied to a particular age group
2. Childhood
  1. British children are often depicted in fairly positive ways, content analysis of different media suggest several stereotypes of children that are frequently used by the media ...
    1. As modern - media may focus on how children 'these days' know so much 'at their age' than previous generations of children and how technologically advanced they are than previous generations
    2. As cute - this is a common stereotype found in TV commercials for baby products or toilet rolls
    3. As little devils - this is a common stereotype found in drama and comedy e.g. Bart Simpson
    4. As brilliant - perhaps as child prodigies or as heros saving the life of an adult
    5. As brave little angels - suffering from long term disease or disability
  2. Children are now seen to be socialized into becoming active consumers, they are encouraged by television advertising and film merchandising to have a love for toys and games
    1. Media commentators have noted this has led to the emergence of a new family pressure, 'pester power'
      1. This is the power of children to train or manipulate their parents to spend money on consumer goods
      2. This pester power is said to create greater anxieties for poorer parents who may struggle to spend money on consumer goods
  3. Knowles's study into children on TV found that children are often portrayed as motivated primarily by peer relationships, sports, romance and least often by community, school or religion
    1. Children are rarely shown as coping with societical issues such as racism or which major family issues such as child abuse or domestic violence
    2. However most of the representations of children are positive and show them engaged in pro social actions such and telling the truth and helping others
3. Youth
  1. There are generally 2 broad ways in which young people have been targeted and portrayed by the media in the UK
    1. On the one hand, there is a whole media industry aimed at socially constructing youth in terms of lifestyle and identity
      1. Magazines are produced specifically for young people, internet music download sites, mobile phones, radio stations all of which specifically target young people
        Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow youth to project their identities to the rest of the world
    2. However the youth are often portrayed by the news media as a social problem, as immoral or anti authority and consequently constructed as 'folk devils' as a part of moral panics
      1. Moral panics have been manufactured around concerns about young people's behaviour, such as their deviant subcultures or due to their behaviour (e.g. drug taking, bing drinking) which have attracted dissaproval
  2. Van Dijk's content analysis confirms this overwhelmingly negative portrayal of youth in the UK
    1. Van Dijk's content analysis of television channels on stories focussed on young people, over 80% focussed on young people as either the perpertrators or victims of youth crime/violence
      1. Young people were mainly represented as a violent threat to society
    2. Van Dijk also found that this distracts from the real problems young people face in the modern world such as homelessness, educational stress, unemployment, mental health ...
4. The Elderly
  1. Research focussing on media representations of the elderly suggests that age is not the only factor that impacts on the way the media portrays people aged 65+
    1. Some media commentators have noted that the upper class and middle class elderly people are often portrayed in TV shows and films as occupying high status roles
      1. Such as world leaders, politicians, experts, business exectives ...
  2. However female newscasters have long complained that these older men are often paired with attractive young females while older women are often exiled to the radio
    1. This is also often the case for female film and tv stars who are often disposed of once their looks and bodies are seen to be declining
  3. It can be argued that old age is generally devalued by the media industry, this is particulary apparent in advertising of beauty products aimed at slowing down the ageing process or hiding it altogether
  4. Research into media representations of the elderly show that the elderly are largely invisible across a range of media and when they do appear they are often negatively stereotyped
    1. Age Concern argue that the elderly are under represented across a range of media
      1. Despite over 65's constituting for a significant proportion of the population only 7% of represented on TV were from this age group
  5. Stereotypes of the Elderly
    1. When the elderly do appear in the media they tend to be stereotyped as having specific characteristics many of which are negative and one dimensional
    2. Mentally Challenged - This stereotype ranges from those elderly who are forgetful and those who are feeble minded or severly confused, this stereotype suggest that growing old involves the loss of or at least a decline in people's mental functions
    3. Infantile - media representations of the elderly portray them as children who need to be treated as such or helpless and dependent of younger members of family or society
      1. 'Sweet little old lady' is typical of this media representation
    4. As a Burden - elderly are portrayed as economic burdens (in terms of costs to younger generation of pensions and health care) or as physical burdens and social burdens on young members of family who worry about them
    5. As enjoying a second childhood - some films and television shows show the more afulent elderly attempting to relive their youth and engaging in activities they have longed to do before they die e.g. bucket list
  6. Research into representations of the elderly suggest that the contribution of the elderly to society is not actually appreciated by media agencies
    1. Elderly are rarely refered to as experienced or wise elders who have a wealth of experience to pass onto younger generations
    2. However research suggests that media producers are gradually reinventing how they deal with the elderly, especially as they have realised that this group may have disposable incomes i.e. extra money to spend on consumer goods
  7. Media representations of age alongside other agencies of socialization such as the family and education are important in shaping or attitudes towards other age groups
    1. However research in this field is fairly limited
  8. The emphasis in TV shows, films and advertising on youth and beauty imply that ageing should be avoided at all costs
    1. This strongly implied that being old is a stigmatized identity

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Topic 6.5 - Representations of Ethnicity, Age and Social Class

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	Created by Victor Mendon almost 11 years ago