“Because we are worth it”. Roles, values and gender bias of older women in television advertising

Abstract

In recent decades, a change has been observed in both the ways older women face life -increasingly heterogeneous and tending to develop active ageing- and in people's minds. Beginning with the premise that advertising tends to imbue its products with socially accepted and positive meanings for its targets, 318 commercials featuring older women were analysed to identify which roles, values, stereotypes and gender bias are presented in their narrative. The results show that the presence of older women is focused on products for personal, pets and home care, mainly. And the manner they are portrayed proves to be varied and in keeping with the ways older women experience different societal roles, except for professional ones.