Representing Ageing: Images and Identities

267 Pages·2012·2.531 MB·English

by  Virpi Ylänne (eds.)

Representing Ageing
Representing Ageing
Images and Identities
Edited by
Virpi Ylänne
Cardiff University, UK
Selection and editorial matter © Virpi Ylänne 2012
Individual chapters © their respective authors 2012
Reprint of the original edition 2012
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First published 2012 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-32340-1 ISBN 978-1-137-00934-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137009340
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
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country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Representing ageing : images and identities / edited By Virpi Ylanne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Older people – Pictorial works. 2. Older people – Services for.
3. Identity (Psychology) 4. Advertising. I. Ylanne, Virpi, 1962–
HQ1061.R437 2012
305.26—dc23 2012011354
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
To my parents Maria Heino and Osmo Ylänne and
to the memory of my grandparents Elle and Viljo Mustonen,
who have all shown me in their own way how to age
Contents
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
Acknowledgements xi
Notes on Contributors xii
1 I ntroduction 1
Virpi Ylänne
Part I Age-Targeted and Advertising Images
2 A nti-ageing Advertisements and Perceptions of Ageing 19
Toni Calasanti, Amy Sorensen and Neal King
3 C onsumerism v. Constructing Older Age: A Case Study
of Over-Fifties Life Insurance TV Advertising 36
Chin-Hui Chen and Virpi Ylänne
4 ‘ They See Themselves As Young’: The Market Addressing
the Older Consumer 53
Karin Lövgren
5 T alk about Love and Intimate Relationships in a Finnish
50+ Magazine 68
Kirsi Lumme-Sandt and Hanna Uotila
6 R edefining Cultural Roles in Older Age: Grandmothering
As an Extension of Motherhood 84
Satori Soden
Part II Appearance, Clothing and Fashion Images
7 D oing Beauty: Women, Ageing and Identity 103
Laura Hurd Clarke and Alexandra Korotchenko
8 O n Going Grey 115
Caroline Holland and Richard Ward
vii
viii Contents
9 F ashion and Age: The Role of Women’s Magazines in
the Constitution of Aged Identities 132
Julia Twigg
Part III Self, Family and Community Images
10 ‘I Don’t See Many Images of Myself Coming Back
at Myself’: Representations of Women and Ageing 1 49
Lorna Warren and Naomi Richards
11 T he Oldest Generation As Displayed in Family
Photographs 1 69
Bill Bytheway and Joanna Bornat
12 ‘ Positive Images’ and Calendars: Explorations in
‘Agelessness’ or ‘Ambiguous’ Identities? 1 89
Eileen Fairhurst
13 S nap Happy – Being Old in Scotland in Photographs 2 07
Emmanuelle Tulle
14 C onclusion 2 26
Virpi Ylänne
Bibliography 232
Index 253
Tables
5.1 The occurrence of articles on intimate relationships
in ET 2006–08 70
8.1 Hair and appearance in the RoAD project 124
9.1 SAGA 135
9.2 Woman & Home 135
9.3 Yours 136
11.1 T he basic characteristics of data obtained
from the twelve families 1 72
ix
Figures
8.1 A choice: retaining long hair after going grey 118
8.2 A display of hair colouring products in a UK chain store 1 20
10.1 ‘Hieroglyphs’ by Jill Angood 155
10.2 Untitled collage by Jill Angood 157
10.3 Chin hair and the crone by Claire Lee 158
10.4 B alding pubis by Deborah Gibson 159
10.5 Gaga to Lady Gaga by Chris Herzberg in collaboration
with Laura Richardson 163
11.1 B ob and Mary Hill in their garden 175
11.2 A dam and Marion Arthur in their garden 1 76
11.3 W ilma Frame’s birthday celebration 180
11.4 Evelyn James’ birthday celebration 181
11.5 Alice Watson completing her shopping 182
11.6 Alice Watson outside her grandmother’s cottage 184
12.1 N inety and still captain of the team 197
12.2 R eady to take on the world 198
12.3 Spacehopper 200
12.4 Loving life more than ever 201
12.5 C hampion cyclist 203
x
Acknowledgements
The origins of this collection can be traced to a workshop I organised at
the 17th Sociolinguistics Symposium in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in
April 2008. Three of the chapters (3, 6 and 8) are revised and expanded
versions of papers given at the workshop ‘Age, Image, Identity: Exploring
Ageing and Ageism in Contemporary Britain’. The other chapters largely
result from fortunate encounters, discussions and contacts made at other
conferences before and after that date. This book was also inspired by
my collaboration with Angie Williams as co-director of a project on
print media and TV representations of older people in the UK (ESRC
grant no. RES-000-23-0416).
I wish to thank all the contributors for their co-operation and patience
when things didn’t progress exactly according to my original plan or
schedule. I would also like to thank those contributors who kindly
reviewed others’ chapters, as well as Justine Coupland, Nik Coupland
and Stephen Katz who also acted as reviewers, for all their helpful sug-
gestions. I have learned a lot from you all and it has been a very enjoy-
able process.
I thank Philippa Grand and Andrew James at Palgrave Macmillan
for their help and patience, too. I thank Michael Brown for his help
with the bibliography. And I would like to acknowledge ‘Look at Me!
Images of Women & Ageing’ project, University of Sheffield, UK ( www.
representing-ageing.com) for their kind permission to reproduce one of
the images from the project on the front cover of this book.
My warmest thanks go to my nearest and dearest, whose love, com-
pany and support keeps me going (and ageing): to Emma and Chris.
xi