This article featured on The Daily Mail website on February 9th 2014. It suggests that all youngsters are reckless and carefree, as we see a 19 year old woman strip to her underwear in a supermarket. The article creates a negative stereotype of young people, which is not entirely true. Further into the article the woman states that she thought she 'should just have fun' - is it really that bad for a 19 year old to want to have fun? Or is it taking things a step too far? Either way, the way it has been portrayed in the media is not beneficial for her or other youngsters. This article also says a bit about females: they are willing to do anything for 'likes' on Facebook, and feel the need to sexualise themselves for the benefit of others. Again, this does not ring true for all females.
Challenges of the stereotype
In the article entitled '10 reasons to cheer our teenagers' found on the BBC website, the stereotype of the typical teenager is challenged. We are given 10 reasons why teenagers are better than we think, and for once, teenagers are presented in a completely positive manner. Around 70% of news about teenagers is negative, so to hear something like this is completely different to what we usually hear. Many people assume that all teenagers are deviant thugs due to what the media presents, but they do not read articles like this.
Old people
In this article we witness the usual stereotypes of the elderly: vulnerability and dependency. This elderly man was entirely dependent on his mobility scooter and when it was stolen he was left housebound. This is a typical stereotype of an older person, as many and inferior to young people (the thieves) and are reliant on mobility scooters to help them to get around. This article is positive towards the elderly, as it says about him being a World War II pilot which is an amazing thing, however it is negative towards the younger generation, as we naturally assume it was a youngster who did the thieving.
Challenging the Stereotype
This article looks at the elderly from an entirely new perspective. The stereotype suggests that old people are 'cute' and vulnerable, however this article from The Daily Mail implies otherwise. Coronation Street star William Roache has been accused of raping several 16 year old girls. Although it was said to happen in the 60's when he was not an elderly person, it has only been spoke about recently. It changes peoples feelings on him completely, and he is seen as creepy rather than cute.
Stereotypes of Age
The media presents different ages in many different way, as shown above, but there are a few main stereotypes to each age.
Teenagers
- thugs
- chavs
- irresponsible
- careless
- reckless
- unappreciative
- dumb
- dependent
- deviant
- materialistic
- lazy
- ignorant
- unmotivated
It is quite obvious that all of these words are negative, and personally I believe that this in unfair. Many teenagers are the complete opposite but unfortunately this is how the majority of society see teens.
Elderly
- vulnerable
- dependent
- conservative
- forgetful
- incompetent
- wise
- experienced
- cute
- complainers
- geriatric
There is a mixture of positive and negative words here because many people see the elderly in completely different ways. When the elderly feature in the media it is usually not directly about them but about what has been done to them by others. This makes it hard for us to make a direct judgement of them.
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