Project Proposal

Tom Ranocchia

Media 384

Prof. Caçoilo

3/24/2017

“Women over 50 have been described by novelist Hilary Mantel as ‘the invisible generation’. H. G. Wells’s invisible man could only make himself visible by putting on clothes, disguising himself as a ‘normal’ person. Today’s invisible women can only make themselves visible by ‘disguising’ themselves as younger women, through their clothes, their hair color, their make-up, or through cosmetic surgery.” – Jeannette King

For the semester project, my intention is to explore issues surrounding ageism as it relates to women. My research so far has included briefly looking at works including:

·        Women, Aging, and Ageism by Evelyn R. Rosenthal

·        This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism by Ashton Applewhite

·    Age Matters: Re-Aligning Feminist Thinking by Toni M. Calasanti and Kathleen F. Slevin

·     Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism by Barbara MacDonald and Cynthia Rich

And websites such as:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/21/older-women-media-message-age-fail

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2015/12/28/age-discrimination-proof-its-worse-for-women/#6d69363b5b60

www.beautyredefined.net/anti-aging-and-symbolic-annihilation/

My aim is to:

1.     Look at the recent history of ageism in Western culture.

2.     Look at where we stand in 2017.

3.    Examine the role of the media in condoning and even perpetuating the inequality caused by ageism.

4.    Examine how feminism handles the issue of ageism. Martha Holstein, in an essay titled “On Being an Aging Woman”, takes feminists to task, saying, “By ignoring the phenomenological bodies of old women, feminists elide their commitment to rendering visible the unexplored, the ignored. They participate in the cultural exclusion of old women and so fail to work toward remedying that exclusion.” I want to explore whether this viewpoint is a valid one, and see if it is supported by others within the feminist movement.

5.     Look at how long-term change can be effected and how feminists can best be part of this change.

At this stage, I propose to write an essay/paper with images/video clips embedded. I have chosen this issue because much of our class to date has focused on how society values women based on their appearance, and how men, and women conditioned by men, objectify women and view them as objects to be viewed and used. In addition, we have looked at race, gender, and sexuality, but have not yet discussed age as an issue which can cause considerable inequality for women. Although I have not completed my research, I feel that perhaps the audience for my paper will be young people keen to support women’s causes, but who might not typically contemplate the problems facing older generations. In addition to posting my work on our class blog, I intend to post it on my personal blog.