Disability. A byproduct of society.

“Limits on people's capacities to conduct activities that are essential to everyday life are imposed by structural and systemic barriers. These barriers are part of a social system that regards some bodies as "normal" and some as "other", rather than considering a broad range of bodies and possibilities, for example when designing a building or piece of furniture. This relegates people with disabilities to the status of lesser citizens because of their lack of access. Disability is a byproduct of a society which is organized around only certain bodies which are defined as "normal", in laws, education, institutions, and in popular culture.” 

Meg-John Barker

photograph by Richard Sandler via

Age Representation in Online Images

Photographs of people aged over fifty are usually missing and if they are not, you might wish they were. Using natural language processing technology, Thayer and Skufca (2019) reviewed more than 1.116 online images (randomly drawn from more than 2.7 million images) posted in 2018 by brands and opinion leaders on sites and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogs, news sites) with at least one million followers.

The results:

46% of the adult population in the US is over fifty but only 15% of the images contain people in "that age segment".

The images suggest homogeneity and exaggerate stereotypcial and outdated characteristics. While 31% of adults over fifty colour their hair, only 15% of the images show nongrey hair. 73% of images of the so-called "50-plus" show people with wrinkles, 12% have age spots, only 15% have clear skin.

Snapshots of those over 65 become less varied and vibrant.

Seven in ten photographs of people over fifty show them in isolated situations, seated, alone, dependent, with a partner or a medical professional receiving care. Younger adults, however, are often "standing in the workplace, giving speeches, or actively participating in the world".

While 30% of the labour force is fifty or older, only 13% of images involve these adults at work settings. The contrast: 55% of photographs of people under fifty show them at work.

Only 5% of images depict people over fifty interacting with technology. And if they do, the photographs usually involve a younger person teaching the older one how to use it.

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- Thayer, C. & Skufca, L. (2019). Media Image Landscape: Age Representation in Online Images. Wahsington, DC: AARP Research, link
- photograph by Richard Sandler via

Stereotypes... Does age outweigh gender? Spoiler: Yes.

Abstract: Stereotypes of age and gender are examined with 35-yr-old and 65-yr-old men and women as target persons. Age stereotypes were more pronounced than gender stereotypes; respondents offered more elaborate free-response descriptions of older targets than of younger targets and described same-age targets more similarly than same-sex targets. On the rating scales, older people were judged less likely to possess masculine characteristics, but ratings of feminine characteristics were largely unaffected by age. Older people were not uniformly devalued on the age-stereotypic characteristics, but when negative evaluations occurred they were of the older targets. Results attest to the importance of a multidimensional conception of age and gender stereotypes. (Kite, Deaux & Miele, 1991)



- Kite, M. E., Deaux, K., & Miele, M. (1991). Stereotypes of young and old: Does age outweigh gender? Psychology and Aging, 6(1), 19–27. doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.6.1.19
- photograph by Richard Sandler (NYC, 1985) via