SY101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Otto Von Bismarck, Betty Friedan, Postmodern Feminism
Sociology
Boomers will be pumping billions into anti-aging industry
-providing a 70 million member strong market for legions and companies, entrepreneurs and
cosmetic surgeons eager yo capitals on their “forever young” mindset
-Will push the us market for anti-aging products from about 80 billion now to more than 114
billion by 2015
Theoretical perspectives on aging
-ageism is an increasingly central feminist concern
-aging exacerbates the problem of power and inequality for women
-while aging is seen as empowering for many men, it is not so for women
-greying hair and wrinkles may be seen as signs of “maturing” while on women those same
features are likely to be interpreted as signs of being “old”
-Abu-Laban and McDaniel (2005)
-“the prospect for women of colour, aboriginal women, women with disabilities , or lesbian
women are even worse”
-contemporary postmodern feminism
-the ways in which gender and age are reproduced in the discourses embedded in cultural
representations such as art, literature , and the mass media
-U.S feminist Betty Friedan examined mass media images of older women
-most seniors, except the rich and famous and powerful, do not count and that is especially true
of senior women
Conflict perspective
-social life as a struggle between groups for scarce resources with pension legislation is an
example of that struggle
-until recently, almost all Canadians were required to retire at 65, reflects a standard established
in 1889 by Count Otto von Bismarck, Germany’s first chancellor
-pension legislation was not a result of generosity, but rather of competition among interest
groups
-conflict between young and old appears inevitable-intergenerational conflict
-huge costs of government pensions funds have become a national concern
-dependency ratio-number of workers compared with number of recipients
—> Currently working age Canadians paying to support each 65+ (2-1 by 2030).. Problems with
this!!
-federal and provincial governments have introduced policies to provide some measure of
economic security for seniors
-3 level retirement system which includes the OAS, GIS,CPP,QPP and RRSP
Theoretical perspectives on Aging
-some youth burlier that good jobs/prospects for a prosperous life are being obstructed by a
“boomer bottleneck” — older Canadians continue to hang on to opportunities for privilege,
power and wealth
-employers do not tend to assume one clear position on the issue of retirement
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Document Summary
Boomers will be pumping billions into anti-aging industry. Providing a 70 million member strong market for legions and companies, entrepreneurs and cosmetic surgeons eager yo capitals on their forever young mindset. Will push the us market for anti-aging products from about 80 billion now to more than 114 billion by 2015. Aging exacerbates the problem of power and inequality for women. While aging is seen as empowering for many men, it is not so for women. Greying hair and wrinkles may be seen as signs of maturing while on women those same features are likely to be interpreted as signs of being old . The prospect for women of colour, aboriginal women, women with disabilities , or lesbian women are even worse . The ways in which gender and age are reproduced in the discourses embedded in cultural representations such as art, literature , and the mass media. U. s feminist betty friedan examined mass media images of older women.
