Findings on Ageism and Transgender Representation in the Media

My searches involved a lot of rearranging.  I wasn’t confident in the scope of my original databases to begin with, so for the sake of more advanced research, great lengths will need to be made to narrow down hubs of information.  Until then, my best technique involves chaining together citations from a broad search until my topic of interest has been narrowed down.  The most useful resources for that purpose have been, quite surprisingly, the Academic Search Premier and the Gale Database for Communications and Mass Media.

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Academic Search Premier

  • >”Ageism” keyword search (3,256 results)
    • Useful result:  Ivan, L., & Cutler, S. J. (2021). Ageism and Technology: The Role of Internalized Stereotypes. University of Toronto Quarterly, 90(2), 127–139. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fhsu.edu/10.3138/utq.90.2.05.
  • >”Transgender” keyword search (19,925 results)
    • Useful result:  Parodi, K. B., Holt, M. K., Green, J. G., Katz-Wise, S. L., Shah, T. N., Kraus, A. D., & Xuan, Z. (2022). Associations between school-related factors and mental health among transgender and gender diverse youth. Journal of School Psychology, 90, 135–149. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fhsu.edu/10.1016/j.jsp.2021.11.004.
  • >”Media representation” keyword search (3,372 results)
    • Useful result:  Billard, T.J., & Zhang, E. (2022). Toward a Transgender Critique of Media Representation. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies 61(2), 194-199. doi:10.1353/cj.2022.0005.

 

Gale Databases:  Communications & Mass Media

  • >”ageism” keyword search (201 results)
    • Useful result:  Webb, R. E., & Rosenbaum, P. J. (2021). Embracing Diversity: the Complexities of Reckoning and Accepting Otherness. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 55(1), 30+. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fhsu.edu:2048/10.1007/s12124-020-09582-9.
  • >”Transgender” keyword search (510 results)
    • Useful result:  Miller, B. (2017). YouTube as Educator: A Content Analysis of Issues, Themes, and the Educational Value of Transgender-Created Online Videos. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117716271.
  • >”Media Representation” keyword search (1,544 results)
    • Useful result:  Loos, E., Ivan, L. (2018). Visual Ageism in the Media. In: Ayalon, L., Tesch-Römer, C. (eds) Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73820-8_11.
      • This article establishes deeper trends on the subject of ageism in the Media.  It is by no means specific to older transgender people, but it does assess portrayals of people in diverse ways.  For example, it distinguishes between “third age” and “fourth age” representation (younger-old and older-old) and how they vary in quality.  The article notes that, while third age representation has been improving in the 21st century, there are still significant negative connotations with fourth age people as “a short, painful descent into decay.”  The article also observes how our tireless plight for eternal youth is often commercialized at the expense of older people.

 

The “Works cited” has certainly been useful, but investigating broad keywords will be paramount in exploring future options.   Otherwise, my biggest hurdle has been the shocking lack of academic journals with linkable DOI codes.  Relegating my searches has already been challenging, but with enough persistence, I’ve been able to find enough examples for a solid groundwork.

About Ellinor (she/her)

I'm a deeply analytical and hyper fixated person. The numbers' game governs my way of life. I'm always paying attention to the clock and planning my day accordingly. With that said, I also have a converse need to allocate as much time out of my day to certain tasks as possible. Allocating only one hour for a project which takes an hour to complete has never been enough for me. Even if it means devoting 12 hours of my day to a project which takes eight hours, I always prefer to leave room for something. That could be a stress break, or it could be an intermission of a snack. Most often, however, it's for the hidden art of getting side-tracked. My attention span has never been my greatest asset, but I've never seen it as an inherently bad trait for my work ethic. For as long as I'm able to capitalize on my distractions, they can serve as an immense learning tool.

One thought on “Findings on Ageism and Transgender Representation in the Media

  1. Remember, this search is not intended to be particularly useful, but to help you discover useful search terms, not necessarily useful sources. Hopefully, Week 11 helped you with better searches. I’d also be sure to search LGBTQ and variations on that at some point.

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