Images Of Elderly Women On Douyin Platform:Types,Context And Dilemma

At present,China has stepped into an aging society.The degree of aging is deep and the scale is large.It is very important for the media to correctly construct the image of the elderly.Especially for older women,the dual marginalization of age and gender determines their negative characterization in the media.The self-media short video platform provides a voice channel for the elderly female groups that have long been marginalized,stigmatized,and demonized by mainstream media.The older women on the Douyin short video platform present a more diverse image,which to a certain extent deconstructs the public ’s stereotype of this group.This article uses qualitative research methods and selects a representative elderly female users with a large number of fans on the Douyin Platform as a research sample.It summarizes four types of elderly female images: fashion trend chasers,fooled and lampooned old women,Senior women living with children and grandchildren and intelligent elderly women.On this basis,a discourse analysis of the images of elderly women,thinking about the media culture and social reality reflected in these images,and finally trying to reveal the hidden power operations.The analysis found that on the one hand,older women carry out self-statement by sharing opinions,recording life,or performing sitcoms,etc.,to build media subjectivity;on the other hand,this group is also to a certain extent subjected to the social context and entertainment supremacy of youth worship The double hostage of the self-media cultural environment cannot truly reverse the trend.Although the older women on the Douyin short video platform show a certain pursuit of their own cultural rights,this pursuit is largely limited.Their voices for self and internal groups are still covered to a certain extent,and their image construction also shows more catering and attachment to young audiences under the commercial logic.