Ageism and the Media Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Ageism and the Media    Women over forty are constantly being either ignored or belittled in the media. There are countless women in their twenties and early thirties all over television and the movies. In magazines, the models tend to be much younger. Many are under twenty. Model Roxanne Daner is only 17, but her career will be over by the time she's 20. "I'm afraid to get old. I already feel old. I like to tell people that I'm 17, because 17 sounds young and they think that there is so much ahead for you. But 18, it's like there is not that much more - there's really only two more years." (Changing Face of Beauty: Illusions). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 42% of Americans are fourty and older. In 1999, the Screen Actors Guild reported that only 1 in three roles went to performers over fourty. However, women over fourty fared worse than men of the same age. While 37% of male roles in television and film went to men fourty-years-old and over, only 24% went to women of the same age. 34% of male lead roles went to older men while only 21% went to older female leads. These depictions of older females are far from accurate when compared to the population. Now that's not to say that there's nothing out there - surly there are some additions to the re-runs of the Golden Girls - "the Bridges of Madison County," even older sex symbols like Sean Connery. But nothing commensurate with the size, wealth, and media dedication of the older population. (Starr) Of the top ten network television shows (excluding reality shows and game shows) for March 5-11, 2001; all ten portrayed men over forty while only seven portrayed women over forty. There were twenty-five males and seven females over forty. For every one female, t... ...ww.lifetimetv.com/shows/specials/changingface/illusions2.html Life Time Entertainment Services. 2000 Changing Face of Beauty: Models http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/specials/changingface/models.html Life Time Entertainment Services. 2000 Changing Face of Beauty: Views. "Sela Ward" http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/specials/changingface/views5b.html Life Time Entertainment Services. 2000 Changing Face of Beauty: Views. "Maricia Gillespie" http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/specials/changingface/views.html Life Time Entertainment Services. 2000 Douglas, Susan J. Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. New York: Random House Publishing, 1994, 278. Starr, Bernard. IT AIN'T JUST PAINT:AGING AND THE MEDIA   http://www.longevityworld.com/justpaint.html. 1997 Wolff, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. New York: Doubleday Publishing, 1991