Images of Aging : Cultural Representations of Later Life.

We all have a finite life-span. We are born, we get old and we die. Given the universiality of the ageing process, it is remarkable that there is almost a complete absence of study of culture and self-image of the middle aged and old. Images of Ageing: Cultural Representations of Later Life changes this. The contributors discuss images of ageing which have come to circulate in the advanced industrial societies today. They address themes such as: body and self image in everyday interaction; experience and identity on old age; advertising and consumer culture images of the elderly; images of ageing used by Government agencies in health education campaigns; the diversity of historical representations of the elderly; gender images of ageing; images of senility and second childhood; images of health, illness and death. BOOK COVER HALF-TITLE TITLE COPYRIGHT CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS CONTRIBUTORS PREFACE 1 INTRODUCTION IMAGING THE AGING BODY AGEISM AND OTHER ‘ISMS’ CONSUMER CULTURE IMAGES, BODIES AND DEATH IN THE POSTMODERN LIFE COURSE CONCLUDING NOTE REFERENCES Part I HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES 2 IMAGES OF OLD AGE IN AMERICA, 1790–1970 CONTENT METHOD INTERPRETATION REFERENCES 3 IMAGES OF POSITIVE AGING THE EMERGENCE OF ‘POSITIVE’ AGING IMAGES OF POSITIVE AGING: RETIREMENT CHOICE MAGAZINE THE PROBLEM OF THE MEANING OF OLD AGE NOTE REFERENCES 4 THE STATUS AND IMAGE OF THE ELDERLY IN JAPAN IMAGES OF JAPANESE AGING PATERNALISTIC NATURE OF JAPANESE SOCIETY Kô IDEOLOGY AND THE JAPANESE HIERARCHY THE OKINA IMAGE AND JAPANESE BENEVOLENCE CONCLUSION NOTES REFERENCES 5 IMAGINING THE LIFE-SPAN LONGEVITY AS SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY: PREMODERN TO MODERN FORMULATIONS POSTMODERN TIMELESSNESS NOTES REFERENCES Part II GENDER AND IDENTITY 6 TRIBUTE TO THE OLDER WOMAN NOTES REFERENCES 7 IMAGING THE AGING OF MEN INTRODUCTION IMAGING MEN IMAGING AGING MEN AND MEN’S POWER IN HISTORY IMAGING OLDER MEN’S EXPERIENCE IMAGING OLDER MEN IN THE MEDIA CONCLUSIONS–OR THE WAY BACK REFERENCES Part III RELATIONS BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS 8 CHANGING IMAGES OF AGING AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE LIFE COURSE INTRODUCTION THE DISCOVERY OF STAGES OF LIFE THE EMERGENCE OF DISCONTINUITIES IN THE LIFE COURSE DISCONTINUITIES IN THE LIFE COURSE CHANGES IN THE FAMILY CONCLUSION REFERENCES 9 BACK TO OUR FUTURES SECOND CHILDHOOD IMAGES OF ‘THE CHILD’ THE BODY AS A SIGNIFIER A CHILDISH BODY RESISTANCE AND REGENERATION NOTE REFERENCES 10 CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS OF GRANDPARENTS INTRODUCTION THE STUDY OF CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS AIMS AND PROCEDURES OF THE RESEARCH THE CORPUS THE EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH FOR SIX COUNTRIES CONCLUSION NOTES REFERENCES Part IV CONSUMER CULTURE 11 FROM GLOOM TO BOOM MARKETING RESEARCH AND THE CONSUMER BODY FROM GLOOM TO BOOM: THE NEW SENIORS MARKET THE PARADOXES OF MARKETING TO SENIORS FURTHER MARKETING LIMITATIONS CONCLUSION NOTES 12 CHAN IS MISSING: THE DEATH OF THE AGING ASIAN EYE THE AGING ORIENTAL SLEUTH CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA Reading the Opera The Opera as a whodunit EVERYDAY PRAGMATIC VOYEURISM AND THE WISDOM OF AGE RACIAL OVERTONES CHAN IS MISSING CHARLIE CHAN IS DEAD NOTES REFERENCES 13 CREATING MEMORIES PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR PART FIVE NOTES REFERENCES Part V THE BODY, AGING AND TECHNOLOGY 14 POST-BODIES, AGING AND VIRTUAL REALITY INTRODUCTION THE MODE OF INFORMATION AND DISEMBODIMENT VIRTUAL REALITY CYBORGS, EXPERIENCE AND MEMORY NOTES REFERENCES 15 AGING AND IDENTITY INTRODUCTION THE BODY IN PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY THE NOSTALGIC ANIMAL COLLECTIVE MEMORIES THE SOMATIZATION OF THE SELF CONCLUSION REFERENCES Part VI DEATH 16 FROM GRIM REAPER TO CHEERY CONDOM HORROR AND HUMOUR: THE PRODUCTION CONTEXT DYING AS A ‘CRITICAL SITUATION’ ‘GRIM REAPER’ AND ‘VOX POP CONDOM’: CONTROL OR EMPOWERMENT? CONCLUSION REFERENCES 17 SELLING FUNERALS, IMAGING DEATH DEATH DENIAL AND THE AMERICAN COMPROMISE DISTURBING THE CASKET DEATH CARE AND CAPITAL FUNERALS TODAY NOTES REFERENCES INDEX It is true to say that aging is about the body, yet in the study of aging we often lose sight of the lived body. Previous works have tended to concentrate on a gruesome cartography of aging infirmities, or on policy developments. The result of this has been to make gerontology and the study of aging data rich and theory poor. It is remarkable that there is almost a complete absence of study of culture and self-image of the middle aged and old. Images of Aging changes this. The editors have drawn together a team of international contributors who discuss the images of aging which have come to circulate in the advanced industrial societies of today. They address themes such as: body and self-image in everyday interaction; experience and identity in old age; advertising and consumer culture images of the elderly; images of aging used by governments in health education campaigns; the diversity of historical representations of the elderly; gender images of aging; images of senility and second childhood; images of health, illness and death. The contributors in this book discuss images of aging which have come to circulate in the advanced industrial societies today. They address such themes as gender images of aging, images of health, illness and death