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Older Women Want to Look Good Despite Media = Pressure=20 to Look Young

By Carolyn Mair, Glenis=20 Wade and Danka = Tamburic.=20

Published by The International Journal of Aging = and=20 Society

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00	=20 =20 = =20
Published online: January 5, 2015	$US5.00	=20 =20 = =20

The media=E2=80=99s obsession with a = youthful appearance=20 can have detrimental effects on older adults=E2=80=99 well-being. = Scholars have argued=20 that the anti-ageing movement, rather than ageing itself, should be = contested.=20 From an evolutionary psychology perspective attractiveness is related to = mating=20 preference. This poses an issue for older women who are bombarded with = idealised=20 images of youthfulness equating to beauty in media and society. For = many, the=20 result is distorted body image, low self-esteem and poor health. It is = clear=20 that appearance matters and therefore many women manage the appearance = of their=20 ageing skin by using cosmetics or medical interventions. The main = objective of=20 this paper was to investigate the influence of the media=E2=80=99s = obsession with=20 youthful appearance on women aged over 60 and the impact of this on = their=20 attitudes towards managing the skin ageing process. Individual = semi-structured=20 interviews were conducted with 21 participants whose mean age was 65.38 = years.=20 Ten of the participants had used some type of medical intervention = (chemical=20 peels, Botox, skin fillers, cosmetic surgery, laser and HRT). These = formed the=20 Medical group; the other eleven used skin care products and regimes but = had not=20 undergone medical interventions. These were the Non-medical group. The=20 transcripts were thematically analysed and showed that although the = participants=20 objected to the negative portrayal of older women in the media and to = pressures=20 to conform to a youthful appearance, they were not unduly influenced by = this.=20 Instead they were overwhelmingly in favour of looking good rather than = looking=20 young or even looking younger and the majority was not interested in = cosmetic=20 surgery. Taking a social constructivist approach, the findings challenge = those=20 which suggest women are weakened by the pressures of media = representations of=20 youthfulness as the only goal. The women in our study were aware of the=20 pressures to look young, but were generally more concerned with looking=20 good.

Keywords:	Ageing Skin, Appearance, Cosmetic Surgery, Media Representations = of=20 Women

The International Journal of Aging and Society, Volume=20 5, Issue=20 1, March 2015, pp.1-10. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). = Published=20 online: January 5, 2015 (Article: Electronic (PDF File; 522.718KB)). =

Dr.=20 Carolyn Mair

Reader in Psychology, Graduate = School, London=20 College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London, UK

Dr Carolyn Mair is Reader in Psychology = at the=20 London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London where she is = Subject=20 Director for Fashion and Psychology. Carolyn=E2=80=99s research = interests lie in the=20 application of psychological theory to solve real world problems and = improve=20 quality of life. Currently, she is Principal Investigator on an = EPSRC-funded=20 project investigating the use of unbiasing strategies to improve = decision-making=20 in professionals. Carolyn is also investigating cognitive factors in = consumer=20 psychology, and the impact of improved self-esteem through using = cosmetics on=20 cognition in older women. Carolyn has led several multi-disciplinary = research=20 projects and published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in the areas of = cognitive=20 psychology, machine learning and empirical software engineering.

Dr.=20 Glenis Wade

Associate Lecturer/Visiting = Practitioner,=20 London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London, UK

Dr Glenis Wade runs an independent = learning and=20 development consultancy. Her research interests lie in identifying = self-esteem=20 and compassion components in beauty and spa rituals and their wider = social=20 applications.

Prof. Danka Tamburic =

Professor in Cosmetic Science, = Graduate School,=20 London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London, UK

Dr Slobodanka (Danka) Tamburic is = Professor in=20 Cosmetic Science at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts = London and=20 Programme Director for the cluster of science courses. She has extensive = experience in the area of skin research, including pharmaceutical and = cosmetic=20 aspects. Dr Tamburic has more than 120 research outputs in public = domain, of=20 which 80 papers on peer-reviewed scientific journals. She has also = contributed=20 to six book chapters and one patent application and has taken part in = more than=20 20 research projects, encompassing, for example, the use of = nanotechnology and=20 biotechnology in skin formulation and various aspects of cosmetic = product=20 efficacy. She is also engaged in multi-disciplinary research, with = strong=20 interest in research on ageing skin. Dr Tamburic is currently setting up = an=20 international research network which will explore the relationship = between=20 ageing skin, self-esteem and well-being of the elderly.

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