“Can't Have it All”: Representations of Older Women in Popular Culture

REFERENCES

• Bazzini , D. G. , McIntosh , W. D. , Smith , S. M. , Cook , S. , & Harris , C. ( 1997 ). The aging woman. In popular film: Underrepresented, unattractive, unfriendly, and unintelligent . Sex Roles , 36 , 531 – 543 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brecht , B. (n. d.) lyrics of New Ages. Retrieved July, 14, 2011, from http://www.randomhouse.com/resources/bookgroup/languagelife_bgc.html .
   Google Scholar
• Briller , B. ( 2000 ). TV's distorted and missing images of women and the elderly . Television Quarterly , 31 , 69 – 74 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cassata , M. , & Irwin , B. J. (1997). Young by day: The older person on daytime serial drama. In H. S. N. Al-Deen (Ed.), Cross-cultural communication and aging in the United States (pp. 215–230). Mahwah , NJ : Erlbaum.
   Google Scholar
• Douglas , S. J. ( 2010 ). Enlightened sexism: The seductive message that feminism's work is done . New York : Times Books .
   Google Scholar
• Fealy , G. , McNamara , M. , Treacy , M. P. , & Lyons , I. ( 2011 ). Constructing ageing and age identities: A case study of newspaper discourses . Ageing and Society , Available on CJO 2011 doi: 10.1017/S0144686x11000092 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gerbner , G. ( 1997 ). Gender and age in prime-time television . In S. Kirschner , & D. A. Kirschner (Eds.), Perspectives on psychology and the media (pp. 69 – 94 ). Washington , DC : American Psychological Association .
   Google Scholar
• Greenberg , B. S. ( 1980 ). Life on television: Content analysis of U.S. TV drama . Norwood , NJ : Ablex .
   Google Scholar
• Hant , M. ( 2007 ). Television's mature women: A changing media archetype: From Bewitched to the Sopranos . US Los Angeles : UCLA Center for the Study of Women . Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3357r9nz
   Google Scholar
• Hennenberg , S. ( 2010 ). Moms do badly, but grandmas do worse: The nexus of sexism and ageism in children's classics . Journal of Aging Studies , 24 , 125 – 134 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kessler , W-M. , Rakoczy , K. , & Staudinger , U. M. ( 2004 ). The portrayal of older people in prime-time television series: The match with gerontological evidence . Aging & Society , 24 , 531 – 552 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lauzen , M. M. , & Dozier , D. M. ( 2005a ). Recognition and respect revisited: Portrayals of age and gender in prime-time television . Mass Communication & Society , 8 , 241 – 256 .
   Google Scholar
• Lauzen , M. M. , & Dozier , D. M. ( 2005b ). Maintaining the double standard: Portrayals of age and gender in popular films . Sex Roles , 52 , 437 – 446 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lee , M. M. , Carpenter , B. , & Meyers , L. S. ( 2007 ). Representations of older adults in television advertisements . Journal of Aging Studies , 21 , 23 – 30 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lemish , D. ( 2008 ). Gender: Representation in the media . In W. Donsbach (Ed.), International encyclopedia of communication (vol. 5 , pp. 1945 – 1951 ). Oxford : Blackwell .
   Google Scholar
• Lemish , D. , & Barzel , I. ( 2000 ). “Four Mothers:” The womb in the public sphere . European Journal of Communication , 15 , 147 – 169 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Marcey , D. A. ( 2008 ). Ancient archetypes in modern media: A comparative analysis of “Golden Girls”, “Living Single”, and “Sex and the City.” Unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Journalism and Communication theses, University of Oregon.
   Google Scholar
• McConatha , J. T. , Schnell , F. , & McKenna , A. ( 1999 ). Description of older adults as depicted in magazine advertisements . Psychological Reports , 85 , 1051 – 1056 .
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• McKay , S. ( 2003 ). The paradox in ageing well: Storied of older women in the Australian women's weekly . Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , 17 , 177 – 185 .
   Google Scholar
• Muhlbauer , V. ( 2007 ). The well-being and quality of life of women over 50 . In V. Muhlbauer , & J. C. Chrisler (Eds.), Women over 50: Psychological perspectives (pp. 95 – 111 ). New York : Springer .
   Google Scholar
• Mulley , G. P. ( 1997 ). Myths of ageing . Lancet , 350 , 1160 .
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Raman , P. , Harwood , J. , Weis , D. , Anderson , J. L. , & Miller , G. (2008). Portrayals of older adults in US and Indian magazine advertisements: A cross-cultural comparison. Howard Journal of Communications , 19, 221–240.
   Google Scholar
• Rich , A. ( 1980 ). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence . Signs , 5 , 631 – 660 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Robinson , T. , & Anderson , C. ( 2006 ). Older characters in children's animated television programs: A content analysis of their portrayal . Journal of Broadcast and Electronic Media , 50 , 287 – 304 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Robinson , J. D. , Skill , T. , & Turner , J. W. ( 2004 ). Media usage patterns and portrayals of seniors . In J. F. Nussbaum & J. Coupland (Eds.), Handbook of communication and aging research , (2nd ed. , pp. 423 – 450 ). Mahwah , NJ : Erlbaum .
   Google Scholar
• Robinson , T. , Callister , M. , & Magoffin , D. ( 2009 ). Older characters in teen movies from 1980–2006 . Educational Gerontology , 35 , 687 – 711 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Robinson , T. , Callister , M. , Magoffin , D. , & Moore , J. ( 2007 ). The portrayal of older characters in Disney animated films . Journal of Aging Studies , 21 , 203 – 213 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Roth , E. ( 2005 ). Momophobia: Incapacitated mothers and their adult children in 1990s films . Quarterly Review of Film and Video , 22 , 189 – 202 .
   Google Scholar
• Shalev , S. , & Lemish , D. ( in press ). “Dynamic Infertility”: The contribution of news coverage of reproductive technologies to gender politics . Feminist Media Studies , 12 .
   Google Scholar
• Shifman , L. , & Lemish , D. ( 2010a ). Between Feminism and Fun(ny)mism: Analyzing gender in popular internet humor . Information, Communication & Society , 13 ( 6 ), 870 – 891 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Shifman , L. , & Lemish , D. ( 2010b ). “Mars and Venus” in virtual space: Post-feminist humor and the internet . Critical Studies in Media Communication , 28 ( 3 ), 253 – 273 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Signorielli , N. ( 2001 ). Aging on television: The picture in the nineties . Generations , 25 , 34 – 38 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Signorielli , N. ( 2004 ). Aging on television: Messages relating to gender, race, and occupation in prime time . Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media , 48 , 279 – 301 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Stern , S. R. , & Mastro , D. ( 2004 ). Gender portrayals across the life span: A content analytic look at broadcast commercials . Mass Communication and Society , 7 , 215 – 236 .
   Google Scholar
• Tally , M. ( 2006 ). “She doesn't let age define her”: Sexuality and motherhood in recent “middle-aged chick flicks.” Sexuality & Culture , 26 ( 2 ), 33 – 55 .
   Google Scholar
• Thornton , J. E. ( 2002 ). Myths of aging or ageist stereotypes . Educational Gerontology , 28 , 301 – 312 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Truscott , D. ( 2009 ). Becoming an effective psychotherapist: Adopting a theory of psychotherapy that's right for you and your client . Washington , DC : American Psychological Association .
   Google Scholar
• Tuchman , G. , Daniels , A. K. , & Banet , J. ( 1978 ). Hearth and home: Images of women in the mass media . New York : Oxford University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Vesperi , M. ( 2004 ). Forty-nine plus: Shifting images of aging in the media . In Harvard School of Public Health-Met-Life Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement (Eds.), Reinventing aging: Baby boomers and civic engagement . Cambridge , MA : School of Public Health, Harvard University .
   Google Scholar
• Walton , M. D. , Weatherall , A. , & Jackson , S. (2002). Romance and friendship in pre-teen stories about conflicts: “We decided that boys are not worth it.” Discourse & Society , 13, 673–689.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Weitz , R. ( 2010 ). Changing the scripts: Midlife women's sexuality in contemporary U.S. film . Sexuality & Culture , 14 , 17 – 32 .
   Google Scholar
• Wolf , N. ( 1991 ). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women . New York : Doubleday .
   Google Scholar
• Worell , J. , & Remer , P. ( 2003 ). Feminist perspectives in therapy: Empowering diverse women , (2nd ed.) . New York : Wiley .
   Google Scholar
• Ylnne , V. , Williams , A. , & Wadleigh , P. M. ( 2009 ). Ageing well? Older people's health and well-being as portrayed in UK magazine advertisements . International Journal of Ageing and Later Life , 42 , 33 – 62 .
   Google Scholar
• An earlier version of this paper was presented at the symposium on Women, Power, & Aging, at Pace University in New York City, September 2010.
   Google Scholar