Being young has been romanticized by the media to the point that it appears that the 20s are the most eventful and significant decade of every person’s life. The media’s appreciation of and, at times, overt infatuation with youthfulness has long been problematic and outshone the representation of people of older ages. Aging is inevitable – it is a part of life, and yet, the media portrays getting old as an undesirable and unpleasant change that one should strive to reverse. Seemingly, the positive qualities associated with old age, such as wisdom, discernment, self-confidence, and self-knowledge, are often subdued or left out of the conversation around aging at all. While ageism affects all old people, women might be experiencing an even more profound and painful impact. A society that values women for their looks and fertility pushes them to retain these properties at all costs. This paper analyzes three pieces of media to put forward an argument that old people are only portrayed as inadequate, inferior, and in need of assistance or augmentation when they are not in charge of representation.
At the moment, there is a global tendency toward increased longevity and higher life expectancy. Due to technological progress and medical advances, it is more likely to live into old age. Yet, despite the increasing share of older adults in the general population, ageism, defined as age-related prejudice and negative stereotyping, still persists. Ageism may be the most common form of discrimination because getting old is inevitable, and the vast majority of people will belong to this demographic at some point in their lives. For women, ageism becomes double jeopardy that stems from two related power structures leading to an increased vulnerability. Both gender and age become vehicles of social division that give rise to inequality and lopsided power dynamics. Therefore, women are likely to experience a faster deterioration of their status compared to men as they age.
Cidbest’s anti-wrinkle face cream advertising campaign is a prime example of the interlocking age and gender power structures. The advertisement displays a can of cream next to three female faces. They belong to the same woman, but they range in the quality and elasticity of the skin and the overall youthfulness of facial features (Lifestyle Monster, 2018). In essence, the visual shows the “ugly,” undesirable “before” that is in dire need of transformation and the glowing “after.” The “before” woman is visibly represented as problematic, and a text next to her face reflects it. The advertisement uses expressions such as “wrinkles,” “fine lines,” and “age spots.” It also tells exactly what is needed to combat these unsightly changes: the skin needs renewal and protection. It does not seem random that the advertisement shows a woman. Because women are the primary consumers in the beauty products market, it only makes sense to target them when selling anti-age skin care.
One could argue that there is a wide range of age-related diseases that modern medicine aims at addressing, and this product may be part of the solution. However, a line must be drawn between objectively hazardous conditions that can lower one’s quality of life and age-related changes that are seen as negative only because of social conditioning. Even though aging is a fact of life and biological reality, ageism is not a natural category. It always exists in a social context and, therefore, a social construct. If the American society in which this advertisement emerged was not so youth-dominated, women would probably not perceive age-related facial changes as a problem. Indeed, wrinkles are not life-threatening, and yet, the media portrays them as an issue that needs a solution. Moreover, the advertisement employs semi-medical jargon to further perpetuate this illusion and sell the product.
With the increasing life expectancy, age categories become fluid. Because the majority of people in developed countries live past the age of 60, the 60+ age group has become as heterogeneous as ever. In other words, there is no one way to be old. While one person over 60 may be an active and fit entrepreneur at the pinnacle of their career, another one may prefer to retire and live a peaceful life surrounded by their grandchildren. Truly, modern societies have given individuals greater freedoms to carve their own paths and determine what age means for them. However, unfair media representation of older women challenges this freedom of self-determination. The visual creates three rigid categories of age: young, middle-aged, and old. Despite what customers themselves may think of these life stages, Cidbest, the brand, assigns a value to each of them. The young-looking woman is obviously superior to the other two ladies. Therefore, aging receives an unchangeable and limiting meaning that indicates the loss of attractiveness and, hence, human value.
Not only is the advertisement ageist, but it also sets unattainable beauty ideals. The young woman in the visual wears makeup; moreover, she is obviously retouched and photoshopped. It would not be a reach to assume that even young women do not look like their media representation because, in reality, there is no Photoshop. For older women, however, the assumptions are even more gruesome because the use of idealized female images moves the milepost for attractiveness even further. What is even more concerning is the fact that the pursuit of perfect looks goes beyond what meets the eye. Her survey showed that American women strongly associated looks with the quality of life. In other words, they could not fathom the possibility of attaining their life goals without first emulating the media-propagated ideal. Therefore, advertisements that pick at women’s natural changes do not just criticize their appearance. In fact, they may be challenging their self-value and ambitions.
The second piece selected for analysis is a comedic sketch created by the Saturday Night Live team. The product that they “advertise” Alexa, a virtual assistant that runs on artificial intelligence technologies (“Amazon Echo,” 2017). Alexa is attuned to the human voice, and its mechanisms of speech recognition allow the assistant to interpret commands and search for information. The advertisement exploits a common social stereotype that portrays older people as bad with technology. The pain point that the parody looks into addressing is the difficulties that old people experience using the devices that their children bought them. The video shows senior citizens forgetting Alexa’s name and not hearing or understanding the answer right away. The crux of the sketch is the imaginary Amazon product that is targeted at older audiences. Any variations of the name “Alexa” activate it; besides, the device is extremely patient and repeats information as many times as older customers require.
Humor is a phenomenon that has emotional, social, and cognitive underpinnings. It is present in all cultures and has been found to be a healthy coping mechanism. When it comes to lifespan development, humor and aging well go hand in hand. This is not an ungrounded claim, as research has shown that humor and laughter have a positive impact on the variety of human body systems – from nervous to immune, skeletal-muscular, and respiratory systems. Some studies compare laughter to aerobic exercise due to its ability to exercise the heart and carry blood-borne nutrients to the tissues. Moreover, laughing together leads to social cohesiveness and building strong relationships. Social integration is especially important to senior citizens who often feel isolated and left out of the social context. Thus, at first glance, the comedic sketch seems to be a funny way to present a commonly occurring situation and allow all audiences, older people included, to reap their health and emotional benefits.
However, it is worth noting that not all jokes are made the same. In fact, researchers point out at least three types of humor. Affiliative humor refers to social bonding through jokes, sharing amusing observations, and making light of serious things together. Self-enhancing humor is a coping mechanism; it helps people to cope with difficulties by making light of them. Lastly, aggressive humor typically mocks, ridicules, and humiliates a person or a specific group of people. In this case, humor can be a tool used by the dominant social group to cement its status quo and marginalize the disadvantaged group. It is difficult to say which type of humor one may classify the SNL sketch. However, it is safe to assume that reactions to the video may vary. Truly, some older viewers may find the situation relatable and the sketch entertaining. On the contrary, others may react negatively to the comedic portrayal of old age because it makes sweeping generalizations and depicts old people as slow, ignorant, forgetful, and bad with technology.
Another important point to make is the difference that the social status of the person creating a comedic sketch makes. The SNL video features young and middle-aged actors between 20 and 40 years old. They wear wigs, dated outfits, and makeup to emulate older looks. By being the center of attention, they put themselves in charge of representing the older demographic. At the same time, older people are left out of the narrative; they cannot express their own opinion and amplify their voices. The findings made by researchers concur with these assumptions: researchers have found that humor used by the outgroup (younger people) toward older people is more negative and aggressive. When older people make jokes about themselves, they often build them around positive stereotypes. Thus, the SNL sketch is a one-dimensional representation of old age because the people behind the characters were excluded.
The third media piece is an article in an independent magazine that tells the story of Tony Williams, a 75-years-old man in search of someone to talk to. The article says that Williams recently lost his wife, to whom he had been happily married for 35 years. The man has no friends and family, and since the death of his wife, he has tried to post ads in newspapers, but no one has reached out to him. The man finds loneliness and isolation unbearable, so he resorted to making a poster out of his window. The poster reads: “I have lost Jo. My lovely wife and social mate. I have no friends or family. No one to talk to. I find the unremitting silence 24 hours a day unbearable torture. Can no one help me?” (Petter, 2020). Because Tony’s case gained publicity through a large news outlet, there is hope that he will find friends and feel less lonely.
It would not be an understatement to say that loneliness kills. Loneliness can be defined as a discrepancy between a person’s desired and actual level of socialization. People are social animals that survive in groups, so it is not surprising that social exclusion generates acute distress. Therefore, while loneliness is a problem in itself, it also has a negative impact on one’s quality of life, physical and psychological health, and even mortality. While there has been no increase in loneliness in the last two decades, a significant percentage of adults feel lonely. The risk of feeling lonely and left out increases with age. An extra risk factor is widowhood, which is reflected in Tony’s case. Loneliness is associated with poorer health outcomes and a heightened risk of premature mortality. Socially isolated people often suffer from cardiovascular diseases and resort to bad habits to fill the void. The decreased bodily and cognitive functionality of old age may exacerbate the general effects of loneliness.
The third piece of media is strikingly different from the first two because it puts the old person in the driver’s seat when it comes to narrating his life. Tony Williams tells the true story of his life, which is why his account is endearing and heartbreaking at the same time. This person’s issues are from made-up, superficial problems that brands and TV channels exploit. Loneliness may be much worse than aesthetic degeneration and the inability to keep up with modern technological trends reflected in the advertisement and SNL comedy sketch. By reading the Independent’s article, younger people can understand the older generation better and develop more empathy. In essence, a large social trend is shown through a single life story that is powerful and relatable. Tony Williams’ loyalty and struggle to navigate life after his wife’s death could inspire a social advertisement or even a movie and reach even wider audiences.
The relationship between society and the media is two-way: on the one hand, media outlets reflect social trends, but, on the other hand, they shape them. Even though modern scientific advances and raising the quality of life contributed to increased life expectancy worldwide, many cultures remain youth-dominated and subjugate older people. Media represent senior citizens in a variety of ways, and the present analysis has shown that genuine pieces are made when the subject takes charge. The anti-wrinkle product advertisement draws both on ageist and sexist tendencies and makes women conscious of their aging bodies. It turns a natural process into a medical issue that needs attention and monetary investment. In turn, the SNL sketch takes its turn at depicting older people’s challenges but misses the point. The only sincere piece of media is the article about an old man using posters and ads to find friends. Because he controls the narrative, the article draws attention to a real problem of old age – loneliness and isolation.
References
Amazon Echo (2017). SNL. YouTube.
Petter, O. (2020). Man, 75, puts poster in window asking for friends after wife’s sudden death. Independent Journal. 13(17). Web.
Lifestyle Monster (2018). Anti-aging Cream. Pinterest.