Collective Identity

• The group of people I have chosen is ‘Old Women’

• Here are some positive stereotypes of old women:

They are wiseThey are great cooks

Old people are sweet and kind and at peace with the world

 Sickness and disability come with old age

 Older people cannot learn

 Older people are more fearful of death than are younger people

Old people are weak and helpless

Old people have no interest in or capacity for sexual activity.

Old people are boring and forgetful

Old people are unproductive

Old women are a burden on everyone

Old people do not have feelings

Old people are past being consulted about anything – even their own lives. 

The majority of older people are set in their ways, unable to change

The majority of older people view themselves as being in poor health

The majority of older people are lonely and are isolated from their families

Philomena (2013) - Judi Dench

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) - Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Celia Imrie and Penelope Wilton.

Skyfall (2012) - Judi Dench

It’s Complicated (2009) - Meryl Streep

FILMS

• Everybody loves Raymond (1996 - 2005) - Doris Roberts

Historical example

The broadcaster Michael Buerk, has criticised female television presenters and news readers, arguing that those given jobs because they "look nice", shouldn't complain of ageism when they lose them.Buerk, 68, condemned the role of presenters as "a very recent job description dreamt up to describe somebody who fronts a programme without any special reason for being on it".He said he felt it was "fair enough" for TV bosses to get rid of older employees and "prune the raspberries to make way for new growth"."As the wonderfully acerbic Anne Robinson said, 'The viewers don't want to watch ugly.'"Buerk discussed his career in the 80s, describing how he felt he was "washed up", as television suddenly became about "yoof".Buerk argued the "worm has turned" with older presenters becoming surprisingly "trendy" again, quoting 75-year-old David Dimbleby, 86-year-old Bruce Forsyth and 79-year-old Mary Berry as prime examples."The old faces are back on TV, and not because they're facing historical sex offence charges," he said.Buerk claimed that television is now aimed at much older audiences, citing most of BBC1 and BBC2 audiences as over the age of 55."A couple of years ago, if you went in with an idea for a show with older presenters aimed at older people, they would laugh like hyenas and show you the door. Now that's all changed. They've realised they've been ruling out programmes people want to watch," she said.

The hypodermic needle model

Suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience who are then immediately influenced.

The mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by injecting them with appropriate messages design to trigger a desired response.