Outline and briefly evaluate the view that age identities are changing (20 marks)
One way that age identities can be seen to be changing is through their fluid nature on a wide-scale
meaning that we have a larger freedom to choose our identities without the restraints of age.
Postmodernists would look at trends such as living and working for longer, anti-ageing products and
procedures, and the extension of 'youth' and childhood to show how age is fluid and becoming less
significant today. The post-modernist Pitcher defines the life course as 'a socially defined "timetable"
of behaviours deemed as appropriate for particular stages within any one society'. Pitcher argues
that the boundaries between different stages are becoming increasingly blurred. As people become
more concerned about self-identity they may present themselves or act in ways which contradict the
norms associated with different life-course stages. For example, children may dress more like adults
and old or middle-aged people may dress in youthful styles. Therefore, we as a society are moving
away from the timetabled limitations of age identities and more towards the picking and choosing of
our identities in Polhemus' idea of a 'supermarket of style'.
By focusing on childhood, one can see that age identities are changing as they are socially
constructed. In the UK, childhood is now seen as a period of innocence, dependence and
vulnerability but in other countries children will be working, fighting as armed soldiers and getting
married. In medieval Europe, 'children' were expected to work and take part in adult social life from
a very young age however Parsons argues that after legal changes, no more labour and extension of
education to 16/18, youth culture has been created through this emersion of modern society - never
having existed before. Further, Postman (1982) argues that childhood emerged only when the
spread of literacy enabled adults to better shield their children from various aspects of adult life -
particularly certain aspects of sexuality and certain horrors associated with death and disease - so
the 'innocent' child was created. He suggests that the emergence and spread of the media and visual
culture in the twentieth century has brought about a decline in childhood and threatens to bring
about its disappearance. Therefore, the UK is a good example of how the constantly evolving
instituted norms throughout the ages determine the age identities socialised into younger years -
arguably when it is most significant.
Active ageing: significant evidence for the view that age identities are changing. Clarke and Warren
did a study on "active ageing" to find that only two (out of 23 interviewed) respondents found it
difficult to 'look forward', claiming it was 'all pointless' and were resigned to 'this is life, you can't
change it'. For the others, the older years were identified as providing new opportunities, a time for
reflection and hope of experiencing future collaborative events with family members (like Christmas
and grandchildren). Further, Blaike suggested that older people are more positive and involved and
that grey pound (purchasing power of elderly people as consumers) is worth £215 billion a year.
Similarly, 'active ageing' is evident in the increase in people working after retirement and internet
usage among elderly. Helen Mirren is a good example of someone who gains extensive media
coverage for her talent and 'active ageing', showing a more positive representation of older icons in
the media. Thus, the previous limits of old age are being consistently and consciously broken
meaning that the effect of traditional stereotypes on age identities is decreasing.
Evidence for the view that age identities are not changing can be found in the loss of 'personhood'
statuses for old people. Hockey and James (1993) name this concept 'infantilisation', linking old age
with childhood and arguing that they are socially constructed in a similar way. Both are seen as
helpless, vulnerable, dependent and needing care. In their retirement home research, they report
that clients were treated like children: they were given pocket money, were bathed, dressed and
have to ask to be taken to the toilet, their daily routine was decided for them, and they were
assumed to be innocent and not sexually active. Such practices will create a self-fulfilling prophecy,
but Hockey and James argued that in most cases it was not based on medical needs. This idea is
reinforced by Giddens who notes that in contemporary western societies the elderly tend to be seen
, as 'non-productive, dependent people who are out of step with the times'. This negative view of old
people as a burden (reinforced again by Corner's research in 1999) is rather traditional
unfortunately, thus suggesting a lack of change in age identities.
It is easily argued with a deeper dive into youth culture that age identity perspectives see little
change. Abrahams argues that 12-25 is all part of the same youth culture; they're all at the same
transitional stage in their life. During this stage, young people are learning and negotiating the path
into adulthood and Clake presents the mass of rebellion and resistance that occurs at this stage as a
result. This could be resisting the norm or rebelling against their relatively low status position in
society where money dominates. Subcultural groups such as punks or chavs are often used by the
media to represent youth in the contemporary UK and this clearly creates and reinforces an
unrepresentative view of youth identity, suggesting that age identities are the same as the days of
mods and rockers. Thornton infers that the media is largely responsible for youth culture as it
socialises youth into age identities and evokes clear-cut boundaries between age groups based on
stereotypical representations. For example, from music to advertising, there is a clear association of
style with youth. Thus, age identities are socialised into youth so vastly that the significance of age
identities grow up with them, only for them to then watch the next generations of youth fall under
the same stereotypes they did.
Unchanged attitudes can be seen to be held around middle age. Middle age is often characterised by
career and family, establishing their own lives, independent from their parents. Bradley (1996)
argues it has a higher status than youth or old age - middle-aged people (40s and 50s) are running
the country and hold power at work. However, middle age is also seen as a negative time, as 'youth'
is lost and old age comes closer. It is associated with negative ideas, such as 'mid-life crisis' and
'empty nest syndrome'. This is furthered by Victor who describes middle age as a distinctive phase of
life related to people in their forties and fifties, preceding the onset of being considered 'old'. The
lack of clear age boundaries or legal positions to help locate when middle age starts and finishes
suggests a lessened fuss around this age group which is reinforced by Thornton's portrayal that
ageism may be reflected through the under-representation of middle-aged and elderly women as
presenters on television. Thus, middle age may be considered as an attitude of mind; suggesting that
there are still particular ways in which middle-aged people view life. Ultimately, the mind is where
identities are formed so if age is a factor in which determines thoughts, then it is very likely that age
identities still hold an unchanging significance for middle aged people.
In conclusion, I believe that age identities are changing due to media empowerment and larger
freedoms manufactured to prevent ableism being a factor in age identities (e.g. medical advances).
However, I recognise that stereotypes are so difficult to break that it will likely take many
generations of conscious empowerment of all age groups to eradicate the significance of age
identities (or at least in their current significance) fully.
One way that age identities can be seen to be changing is through their fluid nature on a wide-scale
meaning that we have a larger freedom to choose our identities without the restraints of age.
Postmodernists would look at trends such as living and working for longer, anti-ageing products and
procedures, and the extension of 'youth' and childhood to show how age is fluid and becoming less
significant today. The post-modernist Pitcher defines the life course as 'a socially defined "timetable"
of behaviours deemed as appropriate for particular stages within any one society'. Pitcher argues
that the boundaries between different stages are becoming increasingly blurred. As people become
more concerned about self-identity they may present themselves or act in ways which contradict the
norms associated with different life-course stages. For example, children may dress more like adults
and old or middle-aged people may dress in youthful styles. Therefore, we as a society are moving
away from the timetabled limitations of age identities and more towards the picking and choosing of
our identities in Polhemus' idea of a 'supermarket of style'.
By focusing on childhood, one can see that age identities are changing as they are socially
constructed. In the UK, childhood is now seen as a period of innocence, dependence and
vulnerability but in other countries children will be working, fighting as armed soldiers and getting
married. In medieval Europe, 'children' were expected to work and take part in adult social life from
a very young age however Parsons argues that after legal changes, no more labour and extension of
education to 16/18, youth culture has been created through this emersion of modern society - never
having existed before. Further, Postman (1982) argues that childhood emerged only when the
spread of literacy enabled adults to better shield their children from various aspects of adult life -
particularly certain aspects of sexuality and certain horrors associated with death and disease - so
the 'innocent' child was created. He suggests that the emergence and spread of the media and visual
culture in the twentieth century has brought about a decline in childhood and threatens to bring
about its disappearance. Therefore, the UK is a good example of how the constantly evolving
instituted norms throughout the ages determine the age identities socialised into younger years -
arguably when it is most significant.
Active ageing: significant evidence for the view that age identities are changing. Clarke and Warren
did a study on "active ageing" to find that only two (out of 23 interviewed) respondents found it
difficult to 'look forward', claiming it was 'all pointless' and were resigned to 'this is life, you can't
change it'. For the others, the older years were identified as providing new opportunities, a time for
reflection and hope of experiencing future collaborative events with family members (like Christmas
and grandchildren). Further, Blaike suggested that older people are more positive and involved and
that grey pound (purchasing power of elderly people as consumers) is worth £215 billion a year.
Similarly, 'active ageing' is evident in the increase in people working after retirement and internet
usage among elderly. Helen Mirren is a good example of someone who gains extensive media
coverage for her talent and 'active ageing', showing a more positive representation of older icons in
the media. Thus, the previous limits of old age are being consistently and consciously broken
meaning that the effect of traditional stereotypes on age identities is decreasing.
Evidence for the view that age identities are not changing can be found in the loss of 'personhood'
statuses for old people. Hockey and James (1993) name this concept 'infantilisation', linking old age
with childhood and arguing that they are socially constructed in a similar way. Both are seen as
helpless, vulnerable, dependent and needing care. In their retirement home research, they report
that clients were treated like children: they were given pocket money, were bathed, dressed and
have to ask to be taken to the toilet, their daily routine was decided for them, and they were
assumed to be innocent and not sexually active. Such practices will create a self-fulfilling prophecy,
but Hockey and James argued that in most cases it was not based on medical needs. This idea is
reinforced by Giddens who notes that in contemporary western societies the elderly tend to be seen
, as 'non-productive, dependent people who are out of step with the times'. This negative view of old
people as a burden (reinforced again by Corner's research in 1999) is rather traditional
unfortunately, thus suggesting a lack of change in age identities.
It is easily argued with a deeper dive into youth culture that age identity perspectives see little
change. Abrahams argues that 12-25 is all part of the same youth culture; they're all at the same
transitional stage in their life. During this stage, young people are learning and negotiating the path
into adulthood and Clake presents the mass of rebellion and resistance that occurs at this stage as a
result. This could be resisting the norm or rebelling against their relatively low status position in
society where money dominates. Subcultural groups such as punks or chavs are often used by the
media to represent youth in the contemporary UK and this clearly creates and reinforces an
unrepresentative view of youth identity, suggesting that age identities are the same as the days of
mods and rockers. Thornton infers that the media is largely responsible for youth culture as it
socialises youth into age identities and evokes clear-cut boundaries between age groups based on
stereotypical representations. For example, from music to advertising, there is a clear association of
style with youth. Thus, age identities are socialised into youth so vastly that the significance of age
identities grow up with them, only for them to then watch the next generations of youth fall under
the same stereotypes they did.
Unchanged attitudes can be seen to be held around middle age. Middle age is often characterised by
career and family, establishing their own lives, independent from their parents. Bradley (1996)
argues it has a higher status than youth or old age - middle-aged people (40s and 50s) are running
the country and hold power at work. However, middle age is also seen as a negative time, as 'youth'
is lost and old age comes closer. It is associated with negative ideas, such as 'mid-life crisis' and
'empty nest syndrome'. This is furthered by Victor who describes middle age as a distinctive phase of
life related to people in their forties and fifties, preceding the onset of being considered 'old'. The
lack of clear age boundaries or legal positions to help locate when middle age starts and finishes
suggests a lessened fuss around this age group which is reinforced by Thornton's portrayal that
ageism may be reflected through the under-representation of middle-aged and elderly women as
presenters on television. Thus, middle age may be considered as an attitude of mind; suggesting that
there are still particular ways in which middle-aged people view life. Ultimately, the mind is where
identities are formed so if age is a factor in which determines thoughts, then it is very likely that age
identities still hold an unchanging significance for middle aged people.
In conclusion, I believe that age identities are changing due to media empowerment and larger
freedoms manufactured to prevent ableism being a factor in age identities (e.g. medical advances).
However, I recognise that stereotypes are so difficult to break that it will likely take many
generations of conscious empowerment of all age groups to eradicate the significance of age
identities (or at least in their current significance) fully.
