3. ‘Traditional’ retirement
Retirement as „not work‟; an entry marker for old age
associated with termination of paid employment
Early retirement as an opportunity to open up the labour
market (1970‟s to 1990‟s) (Walker 2005)
Now radical shift towards later (state support) for retirement
and for (various forms of) working longer
Robertson (2001) represents the issues surrounding retirement
as individual: “health vs. wealth”; “push vs. pull”
Recent research problematizing focus on retirement as an
individual issue (e.g. Loretto and Vickerstaff, 2013)
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4. Current (political) imperatives
Extend
working lives
Ensure
successful ageing (Rudman, 2006;
Rozanova, 2010)
Promote
2009)
a „responsibilitization agenda‟ (Asquith
Address
tensions with issues/initiatives related to
youth unemployment
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5. Wearies
Wearies:
Retirees‟
„Working, Entrepreneurial and Active
Pensioners
who find it hard to get paid
employment because of their age but who
cannot afford to retire (Future
Foundation, 2011)
This
will make them “innovative and
entrepreneurial contributors to the UK
economy” (Daily Mail, 2012)
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7. The problem older woman
Older
women encounter double jeopardy due to
intersection of age and gender (Duncan and
Loretto, 2004)
Or
triple jeopardy (Granleese and
Sayer, 2006), given the positive associations
between beauty, femininity and youth
(Trethewey, 1999)
Are
positioned as “cranky” within
organizational, welfare and biological discourses
(Irni, 2009) in contrast to the notion of peace and
serenity in retirement
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8. The problem older woman
Less
clear separation between paid and unpaid
work
More
divergent working lives and less access to
funding for retirement (e.g. pension)
Particularly
in terms of those currently
approaching retirement, more focus on domestic
responsibilities even in dual-earner couples
(Loretto and Vickerstaff, 2013)
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9. Discursive construction
Of:
(old) age (Gullette, 2004
age(ing) at work (Fineman, 2011)
age categories such as older workers (Riach, 2007;
Rudman and Molke, 2009; Ainsworth and Hardy,
2012)
Thus
from a discursive perspective age (and
categories thereof) is not neutral but
(re)produced within complex circuits of societal
and organizational (in)action
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10. Intersection of age and gender
Age/Gender
intersections emerging as a
particular area of research focus
Age
research starting to „piggyback‟ on more
established critical and discursive perspectives in
gender research
Some
attention to visual rhetoric particularly their
presentation within organizational documents
(annual reports e.g. Davison, 2010 and recruitment
brochures e.g. Hancock and Tyler, 2007)
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12. Discourse and the genre of
online news
A
pragmatic, inclusive definition of discourse:
“written documents, verbal reports, artwork, spoken
words, pictures, symbols, buildings and other
artefacts” (Phillips et al, 2004: 636)
Online
news:
“media spectacle” (Tan, 2011:169)
neglected in organizational studies (Mautner, 2005)
“a theme-based group of news objects held
together graphically overlapping with other such
groups and undergoing progressive updating” (Lewis
2003: 97)
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13. The visual within this genre
Acker
(2012): media images as one of seven
emerging areas ripe for empirical investigation in
gender studies
We
focus empirically on stock images:
constructed photographs
“we
gradually come to accept them as showing
us how the world really is” (Machin and Van
Leeuwen, 2007: 157)
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15. Data collection
Data
from UK online news was collected
systematically using internet tools in a daily
automated search process over 150 days during
2011/2
Identified
120 usable photographs
Reduced
to sample of 16 after initial review
Analytical
„Wearies‟
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focus here on two representations of
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16. Visual analysis
Based
on Meyer et. al (2013) we can describe our
two stage approach as incorporating:
Archaeological Analysis: Our own (separate and
joint) analytical review of the images
Dialogical Analysis: Group photo-elicitation
workshops with 23 participants returning comment
sheets
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17. Archaeological analysis
Davison(2010):
Physical attributes, dress, physical artefacts, and
interpersonal representations
Rose
Analysis of portraits
(2001):
subject positions, absences, contradictions,
similarities/differences with other images,
persuasiveness, complexities
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18. What are your impressions of
these photos?
We would like to retain, display and share the comments you produce
today on these photos for use in our research project including future
academic conferences, seminars and publications.
You have a choice as to whether to share the comments you produce:
If you do not consent to your comments being reproduced (in electronic
or print form) for educational and/or non commercial purposes then
please do not hand in your picture at the end of this session.
If you hand in your comments at the end of the session you are
consenting to these being reproduced (in electronic or print form) for
educational and/or non commercial purposes.
You may withdraw your consent subsequently by emailing the authors
and quoting your participant number N/N
The names of those who provide comments will not be recorded or
identified.
Any questions? If you later have any questions or concerns about the use of
these comments please email Katrina at any time (k.pritchard@bbk.ac.uk).
The rights for these images have been purchased by the researchers for use
in this exercise and must not be reproduced without permission
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23. Our analysis
Text
vs. Image:
„pensioners‟ vs. image of a sole female
work vs. domestic setting
Image:
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Calculator (dated, technology, big
buttons)
„W.E.A.R.Y vs. weary, worried, worn out
(hand over mouth)
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24. Participant reactions
Woman
:
“androgynous”, “masculine”
“widow”, “spinster”, “no wedding ring”
“confused”,
What
“vulnerable”, “overwhelmed”
is she doing?
“obviously can‟t understand basic maths”
“thoughtful … she knows what she is doing, ordered
papers, calculator at the ready”
“could be tax [advisor], going through someone
else‟s bills”
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27. Our analysis
Text
vs. Image:
„they‟ and „pensioners‟ vs. image of a sole
female
work vs. domestic setting
Image:
@ageatwork
Colour scheme (woman blends)
Money (bills vs. comfortable, but dated
home)
„W.E.A.R.Y vs. weary, worried, worn out
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28. Participant reactions
Woman:
“middle class”, “has family”
“stress”
Several participants suggested less
confused than previous image
What
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“worried” “concerned”
is she doing?
“the problems of the comfortably off
retired”
“planning ahead? „can I afford to stay in
this house?‟”
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29. Weary women: issues raised
Gendering
of the images:
Assumptions made about the present woman and
the absent man
Subject position of the „female pensioner‟
Compare/contrast with media representations
women across the life course
Disconnect
between W.E.A.R.Y and „weary‟: does
this undermine even ridicule idea of older
entrepreneur?
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30. Weary women: issues raised
Methodological
challenges:
Complexity of online news
Production vs. consumption
Our
consumption of data from online news
Our (re)production in different form for photo-elicitation
Photo-elicitation exercise
discursive
fragments
more emotional commentary than in our own analysis –
why?
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32. Alternative Constructions
These
images are reproduced with kind permission
of Lorna Warren; Sheffield Institute for Studies in
Ageing (SISA) and Chris and Janet whose images
follow
Copyright
belongs to the Representing Self Representing Ageing project, funded by the New
Dynamics of Ageing cross-council research
programme (grant number: RES-356-25-0040)
For
more information see the Look At Me! website:
www.representing-ageing.com
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33. Chris in collaboration
with Laura Richardson
"What I discovered doing the
re-enactment was that I really
wanted to see myself as the
performer but I found when I
looked at the photos that I
was quite comfortable looking
at myself as I really am."
Copyright: Representing Self - Representing
Ageing project, funded by the New Dynamics
of Ageing cross-council research programme
(grant number: RES-356-25-0040).
@ageatwork
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34. Janet in collaboration
with Sandra Thomas
"I was exploring images of
myself in a mirror.…
exploring make-up as a
mask and as an
enhancement."
Copyright: Representing Self - Representing
Ageing project, funded by the New Dynamics
of Ageing cross-council research programme
(grant number: RES-356-25-0040).
@ageatwork
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com
