SOC101: Introduction to Sociology (2020.A.01)

One could ask whether it is possible to visually represent older people in a non-ageist way. In our opinion, pictures are never neutral, as signifying practices cause each of us to consume them in our own way. The prejudicial effects of stereotyped visual imagery injure and exclude, and should therefore be avoided. Several recommendations for reducing visual ageism have been formulated since the 1980s. For example, Hiemstra et al. suggested that educators play a role as social interventionists and agents of change by teaching people to correct misleading and exaggerated images, both on the side of the marketers and of the consumers. As our review of empirical studies revealed, though, visual ageism is still prevalent today. Richards et al. referred to the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, which "identified as one of its objectives the need to facilitate contributions of older women and men to the presentation by the media of their activities and concerns" and underlined how important it is to create expectations in both younger and older people about ageing and old age. They pointed to the New Dynamics of Ageing initiative, "Representing Self - Representing Ageing", which argues that "new sets of images need to be presented to the media" that counteract current ageist preoccupations and instead reflect the "contributions, strengths, and resourcefulness" of older women.

Vickers suggested that an increase in the visibility of older people in society would foster more respect and a better understanding of old age. She expressed the hope that visibility advocacy groups succeed in changing our attitudes towards aging: "Perhaps one day we will turn on the television and see a commercial for an aging cream that brings out the best in your wrinkles rather than trying to hide them, while sending a message that older people are alive, active, and living well". In 2007, personal care products brand Dove did just that, by launching Pro Age as part of their Campaign for Real Beauty. It featured several women in their 50s and 60s. The campaign captured the imagination of baby boomer women around the world. The campaign presented images of women who were not professional models, literally laying bare their age spots, grey hair, and curves, and demonstrating that women are beautiful at all ages.4,5 Despite critical remarks from Johnston and Taylor,  who said that "although broadly accessible, Dove's critique of beauty ideology is diluted by its contradictory imperative to promote self-acceptance and at the same time increase sales by promoting women's consumption of products that encourage conformity to feminine beauty ideology", in our opinion, this is one of the rare efforts to visually depict older people in a non-ageist way.

Other campaigns, such as those of Specsavers in 20136 and Swiss Life in 2016,7 have tried to do the same. In the Specsavers advertisement an older couple thankfully sinks down onto what they think is a bench in a park, but which turns out to be the seat of a roller coaster. The commercial concludes with a voice-over saying, "Should've gone to Specsavers". The Swiss Life campaign also makes use of humour to sell insurance and provide financial advice to older people. In one commercial, an older man is ably competing with a much younger man at the gym. Unlike the Dove Pro Age Campaign, however, the Specsavers campaign pokes fun at older people (their poor eyesight causes them to sit on the wrong bench) and the Swiss Life campaign humorously exaggerates the older person's ability to perform as well as his younger counterpart.

Both the Specsavers campaign and the Swiss Life campaign reinforce positive characteristics, in the sense that they depict older people as active, but their depictions are more in keeping with what we consider to be ageist third age representations. Our review of empirical studies clearly revealed that visual ageism remains a challenge. These days, visual ageism in the media tends to come wrapped in the guise of the positive attributes of third age representations of older people, while adults in their fourth age continue to be underrepresented. One possible explanation for this is that healthy third agers might prefer not to be associated with fourth agers, as they remind them too starkly of what lies ahead in their own near future. Although this discomfort or even fear about mortality is undeniably common, from a societal point of view this kind of (self-)ageism is hurtful to fourth agers as a group and in a sense to third agers as well, as they risk to become fourth agers themselves one day.

Based on the insights of this chapter, we suggest that one way to address visual ageism is to "design for dynamic diversity", an approach originally developed by Gregor et al. as a method to create interface designs for older people having "significantly different and dynamically changing needs". Applied to the visual representation of older people in the media, this implies the use of a multiplicity of images and more nuanced imagery to combat the over-homogeneity of representations of older adults. The Dove Pro Age campaign is a good illustration of this approach that could be a fruitful way to reduce visual ageism in an ever more ageing society.