Gender and Aging: an Investigation of Television's Infatuation with Youth
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Gender and Aging: An Investigation of Television’s Infatuation with Youth and Beauty By Kendall Davenport An Honors Senior Thesis Submitted to the Department of Communication Boston College May 2008 Davenport 1 Table of Contents: Abstract…………………………………………………………………………..2 Chapter One Introduction…………………………………………………………..………….3 Chapter Two Theoretical Background……………………………………………….………..5 Chapter Three A Review of the Literature………………………………………………….......7 Chapter Four Rationale…………………………………………………………………………17 Chapter Five Outline of the Analysis…………………………………………………………..22 Chapter Six Televisions’ representation of the elderly and the aging process……...…..….24 Chapter Seven The Double Standard in Aging ………………………….……………………....37 Chapter Eight The Realization of the Double Standard………………………………………...52 Chapter Nine Attempts to Defy the Hands of Time…………………………………………..…61 Chapter Ten Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..…...68 References………………………………………………………………………….71 Davenport 2 Abstract: This thesis examines primetime television’s negative portrayal of the aging process as well as the double standard in aging that benefits men and punishes women. Unlike their male counterparts, older women in television shows are often portrayed in a negative light or, even worse, not represented at all. Older women are almost invisible in prime-time television shows and movies. In my analysis of “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The Comeback,” three popular television series, I argue how the under-representation of older women in television highlights and reinforces society’s negative connotations associated with aging and the glorification of youth and beauty. Further, based on my analysis, I argue that this lack of representation suggests that once women pass a certain point in their physical appearance, they lose their power and their voice. It is not only older women who are confronted with this issue as I will demonstrate through “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The Comeback:” as the obsession with youthfulness increases, younger women also feel the pressure. As a result, women try to defy the devastating hands of time by adopting apparently youthful characteristics such as appearing confused and needy. Davenport 3 Chapter One: Introduction On November 29, 2007, the Hollywood Reporter released its annual top ten list of the highest-paid actresses in entertainment industry. Thirty- one year old Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon topped the list, commanding $15 to $20 million a movie. Witherspoon was followed closely by 32 year old Angelina Jolie and 35 year old Cameron Diaz. In addition to their profession, financial success and talent, these women all possesses two of society’s most coveted characteristics: youth and beauty. In fact, 80% of the women on the list were 40 years old or younger. Jodie Foster, who ranked number 9, was the oldest at age 45. The talented and venerable 58 year old Meryl Streep, 62 year old Helen Mirren, and 60 year old Glenn Close all failed to make the list. On the contrary, Forbes List of highest paid male actors included 51 year old Tom Hanks, 45 year old Tom Cruise, 42 year old Brad Pitt, and 52 year old Denzel Washington. This age discrepancy is not only present in films but also television as well. In fact, this year many of the major networks introduced new shows that star an older leading man. For example, 58 year old Ted Danson stars in ABC’s “Help Me Help You,” 60 year old John Lithgow and 62 year old Jeffrey Tambor star in “Twenty Good Years,” (Holloway, 2006). In contrast to the actors listed above, there are few if any examples of older women starring and leading a series. Instead, these men are surrounded by younger, beautiful women. In 2007, it seems not much has changed since Signorelli and Bacue concluded in 1990 that a “woman’s value is in her youthfulness,” (pg. 530). For years Davenport 4 the popular media has held women to a stricter standard of beauty and the actors’ lists and new television series described above are yet another example of this discrimination. As a result, women in society feel immense pressure to adhere to this strict standard of beauty. In fact, middle aged women are bombarded with anti-aging ads all promising to help turn back the hands of time. One can almost be guaranteed to stumble upon several of these anti-aging advertisements when flipping through any given women’s magazine. However, this is certainly not the case with men’s magazines. Walker identifies this phenomenon in her book, The Crone: Woman of age, wisdom and power, stating, “Women are socially and professionally handicapped by wrinkles and gray hair in a way that men are not. A multi-billion dollar “beauty” industry exploits women’s well-founded fear of looking old. This industry spends megafortunes…Instead of aging normally through their life cycle, women are constrained to create an illusion that their growth process stops in the first decade or two of adulthood,” (pg. 30). Unlike men, women are continuously reminded they must conceal any signs of aging. Davenport 5 Chapter Two: Theoretical Background: In 1978, Gaye Tuchman’s Hearth and Home: Images of Women in the Mass Media examined the representation of women in the mass media. She found that women, despite their social progress, are “systematically annihilated” or condemned, trivialized or absent in the mass media (pg.8). At the time, according to Tuchman’s findings, women on television were vastly underrepresented compared to their male counterparts. However, when they did appear, these women generally occupied either the role of the helpless victim in need of a rescuer or they were “dismissed to the protective confines of the home,” (8). Obviously the women on television did not reap the social and political benefits experienced by women in the real world. The image constructed on television was not reflective of the successes achieved by the women’s movement. Over the past three decades, television’s portrayal of women has definitely improved. Of course, some of the issues Tuchman observed still exist today, but not to the same extent. For example, women are still under represented on television, however, to a lesser degree. When women are represented, they are no longer relegated to domestic roles. Now, shows like “ER” and “Law and Order” portray women in leadership roles. Without question the “systematic annihilation” of women observed by Tuchman no longer has the same significance in today’s society. While it may not pertain to all women, I found that elderly women on television are still victims of this systematic annihilation. Based on my analysis of “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The Comeback,” I found that elderly women are vastly under Davenport 6 represented in both of these popular prime time television series. Like Tuchman, I found that when elderly characters were represented, they occupied peripheral roles and were often cast in a negative light. The negative effects of aging were less severe for male characters I observed. In fact, men in their 50 to-60 age range were often depicted as in their prime. In other words, aging, I found, has inverse effects on men and women. Women are systematically annihilated by the aging process, where as men are rewarded. Davenport 7 Chapter Three: A Review of the Literature Over the past thirty years, there has been a flood of research concerning the representation of the elderly in primetime television. While researchers present different findings, there is one finding that remains uncontested over the years. That is, there is an undeniable under representation of the elderly on primetime television. In 1989, after analyzing popular primetime sitcoms Bell concluded (1992) that although the elderly appear more frequently now than in the past, they are still vastly underrepresented. For example, “approximately 12.1% of the people in the United States population [are elderly], but only 3.3 percent,” (Bell, 1992, pg. 307), of the TV characters were classified as elderly. Over a decade later, Dozier and Lauzen (2005) observed prime-time programs from the 2002–2003 seasons, and like Bell, they concluded that, “although Americans 60 and older constitute 18% of the population, findings indicate that such individuals comprised only 4% of major characters in prime-time television,” (pg. 241) Without question, the elderly are vastly under-represented on primetime television. Previous research indicates that when the elderly actually appear on television, they generally occupy insubstantial roles. Signorielli (2004), after analyzing prime time television, asserted “the message of aging on prime-time television is one that celebrates youth while neglecting the elderly to a smaller percentage of roles,” (pg. 279). Over the years there has been a split regarding the characteristics and personality traits ascribed to the few elderly characters on primetime network. The majority of researchers found that the elderly are cast in a negative light. Gerbner, C., Gross, L., Signorielli, N,& Morgan, Davenport 8 M. (1980) found that prime-time television offered barely any positive images of older people and instead portrayed them with “failing health,” or as “disabled,” (pg. 39). Often times, the elderly are depicted as incompetent, senile, and confused. For example, Bassett, G., Chamberlain, K. Hodgetts, D., (2003) found that the “traditional representations such as the ‘frail elderly’ are now complemented by newer representations such as the ‘remarkably’ youthful elderly,” (pg. 417). Yet, not all researchers agree that the elderly are portrayed in a negative light and instead, they argue that positive attributes are ascribed to the elderly on television. For example Bell (1992) analyzed the elderly characters in “Murder, She Wrote,” “The Golden Girls,” “Jake and the Fatman,” and “In the Heat of the Night,” all extremely popular shows. Based on his analysis, he concluded that the elderly characters were central to the plot, and presented “as powerful members of the community, affluent, always healthy and physically and socially active, portrayed as mentally active, and looked up to and admired,” (pg.