Cumberbatch and Negrine also found that how people responded to the disabled depended on how much experience they had with them. Those who had more experience and understanding of the disabled were more likely to reject stereotypical representations presented to them. Tom Shakespeare has undertaken extensive research into disability and the media and he looks at pornography VS. charity. Pornography focus’s on the desirable and idealistic parts of the body to encourage people to watch it whereas charity advertisements focus on the bad parts of the body in order to gain sympathy. Many disabled people find charity ads. patronising and demeaning because it paints a false picture of insecurity, helplessness, neediness and vulnerability.
However according to the Broadcasting Standards Commission the disabled are still significantly under represented with only 7% of programmes using disabled people in their samples. It seems therefore that the media wish to live in denial of their existence and not portraying a fair representation when they do acknowledge them.
The same problem occurs with age in the media. Melved (1992) says the images of childhood helplessness has resulted in them being presented with wisdom, sanity and sensitivity whereas the adults world such as parents and teachers are portrayed as useless and stupid. A very good example of this is The Simpsons. However there are critics of Melved that suggest that these images of wisdom are merely the opposite of what is happening in real life and adults still have the power and influence over the children.
Synott (1988) developed Melved’s research further and said that the media involves 5 beliefs of childhood:
- Children can be noble or savage
- Children are sinful and need to be restrained and punished
- Children are unformed in terms of character and personality. Adult influence shapes them.
- Children have an innate nature that is not easy to change
- Children are naturally good
Recently children have been portrayed in several roles in recent media coverage. Children as victims of sexual perverts e.g. paedophilia on the Internet and these are from “good, normal families.” Also children are seen as “ bad and uncontrollable” who are violent and disruptive within school, they are from disruptive, dysfunctional families” with “bad parenting.”
James and Prout (1990) see children as underdeveloped adults who are developing their own social world and culture. This may or may not work antagonistically with that of their parents and other adults but rather develops separately and is more self-contained. Television producers have recognized this and instead of presenters that are older like an aunty or uncle they have presenters that are only slightly older than themselves like an older brother or sister. A good example of this would be programmes such as Blue Peter.
Geoffrey Pearson in Hooligan (1983) argues that while images of youth are predominately negative this is usually contrasted in the media with The Golden Age, where young people knew their place and there was less crime because people respected the police. The Golden Age is always 20 yrs previous. The media are constantly worried of the manifestation of ‘youth as a problem’ is current whether it’s the Hooligans of Victorian times, the Teds of the 1950’s or the travellers of today. Therefore the youth of today are bad and the youth of the Golden Age are good.
Whereas Hebdige sees the media as merely reflecting the life situations of a teenager Davis goes further and says that the media are effectively creating the teenager. Modern rap such as Eminem and Marylyn Manson are thought to provoke children into committing violent crimes based on the music itself. Most sociologists see media representations of teenagers linked to economic and social change.
Ageism if we take it from a hegemonic perspective serves to legitimate the way society deals with ageing.
“Ageist representations represent our historical and political definitions of age as the intrinsic and natural essence of the ageing process” (Alvarado et al 1987)
Vernon et al found that after undertaking research in the autumn of 1987 and the summer of 1988 that elderly women were underrepresented in the media compared to elderly men and traditional sex role stereotyping was evident. Men were more likely to have desirable qualities such as good health, creative, wealthy, sociable and intelligent whereas the women were more likely to be given negative traits such as rigid and unpleasant. The girlfriends of older or middle-aged men were typically 10-15 years younger than them. Vernon et al concluded that women must stay youthful in appearance to be socially acceptable and desirable, whereas this did not so much apply to men. Older men that are considered ‘sexy’ are Harrison Ford, Richard Gere and Sean Connery.
N. Signorielli (1984) carried out one of the largest content analysis of age. It was based on 14, 037 characters on American television. She found that the very young and the elderly were under-selected in prime-time T.V. Older actors were less likely to be perceived as good but were also less like to be involved in violent roles than younger characters. Approx. 70% of older men and 80% of older women were judged and held in low esteem and treated discourteously.
Finally Biggs (1993) produces 5 trends in the representation of ageing:
- Significant numbers of middle-aged + appear in prime-time soap operas.
- Sitcoms in particular feature negative portrayals of ‘doddery’ old age.
- Reverse stereotyping can occur such as Victor Meldrew.
- Recent representations have shifted towards a more active view of the elderly.
- The problems of age such as ill health and poverty do not tend to receive regular or prominent attention.
In conclusion sociologists overall seem to agree that the media has a significant effect on the way we portray the disabled and ageism. From the evidence I have collected I feel that the media create rather than reflect on the images because if it wasn’t for the ideologies and preconceptions that we have acquired from the media then we would have a neutral view of disability and age. If education on disability and age was better and people were more informed of their situations then they would be able to refute the images portrayed in the media and we would not have the stereotypical views that we possess today.
