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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Body images among men and women of different ages | | Author(s) | Peter Öberg, Lars Tornstam |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 19, part 5, September 1999 |
| Pages | pp 629-644 |
| Keywords | Ageing process ; Personality ; Self esteem ; Theory ; Social surveys ; Sweden. |
| Annotation | The body has become a focal point for people's self-image in late modernity. People are increasingly overwhelmed with messages of youthful ideals: how to stay young or how to get old without signs of ageing. However, studies of the effects of these images on people's own experiences as they grow older seem to be lacking. The authors report on an empirical study which focuses on body image for men and women of different ages. Four hypotheses, derived from gerontological theories, are developed and tested against data: the female beauty hypothesis; the double marginality hypothesis (concerns satisfaction with one's body by sex and age); the ageing mask hypothesis; and the the ageless self hypothesis. The survey, undertaken by 2,002 Swedes, reveals a response pattern with basically positive body images that, for women, is increasingly positive with age. The results are, thus, in sharp contrast to the gerontophobic messages from consumer culture as well as contrary to some gerontological theories. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-000307212 A |
| Classmark | BG: DK: DPA: 4D: 3F: 76P |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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