An Exploration of Ageism and Sexism in Obituary Photographs: 1967–1997

Abstract

Newspaper obituaries are important mourning rituals that announce the deaths of individuals and share their life stories with others. Obituaries also provide insight into the societal values and attitudes of the day. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether factors such as gender and age were related to age-inaccuracy in obituary photographs and whether the level of age-inaccurate photographs has increased over time. Obituary photographs were analyzed from The Cleveland Plain Dealer for the years 1967, 1977, 1987, and 1997 (N = 400). Results indicated that obituary photographs of women (p < 0.001) and of older adults (p < 0.001) were much more likely to be age-inaccurate. Analysis also revealed a consistent upward trend in age-inaccurate photographs over time (p < 0.05). The findings from this study indicate that society's bias toward youthful appearance has persisted and grown over time, particularly in the case of older women.