Elderly Stereotypes in the Media
In Western society today, there has been an overwhelming tendency towards a concern with remaining as youthful as possible for as long as possible. Although this does extend towards the qualities of energy and vitality, the main focus of this drive is upon appearance. In American society particularly, the media has both encouraged and perpetuated this trend. Advertisements, greeting cards, and even cartoons often portray older people as feeble, foolish, and worthy of little more than providing some derisive entertainment for the younger generations. While the mass media has been improving its images of the elderly as citizens worthy of respect, there are still many images that cater to the general drive towards remaining young and physically attractive (Vickers, 2007).
Vickers (2007) notes that stereotypes occur in all sorts of media, including television, comics, and cartoons. One example of the cartoon genre is the online rendition of "Honesty on the Internet." In this cartoon, an elderly man and woman, both out of shape, communicate via an online messenger service. The cartoon implies that both are lying about their appearance and interests, with the woman saying that she was a model, and the man lying that he is a Chippendale's dancer and racer of speed boats. In addition, the junk food, smoke, and cans of beer in their environment suggests a lack of basic hygiene and care for their health. The words suggest that elderly people must lie about their appearance and interests to be appealing, even to each other. This type of cartoon typifies a large amount of today's online interaction, which is what makes it funny. However, it is also both tragic and indicative of the general social attitude that the elderly is used as a vehicle for derisive humor.
Television advertising is another genre in which the elderly tends to be either marginalized or ignored as insignificant members of society. In the 1980s advertisement for Wendy's, which has now become iconic for its question "Where's the beef?," is a primary example of the elderly being portrayed not only as feeble and unattractive, but also as mentally less than agile. The question...
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