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Calasanti. Gender and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads
York College CUNY
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Bodacious Berry, Potency Wood and the Aging Monster: Gender
and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads
Calasanti, Toni M.
Social Forces, Volume 86, Number 1, September 2007, pp. 335-355 (Article)
Published by Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1353/sof.
For additional information about this article
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muse.jhu/journals/sof/summary/v086/86.1calasanti.html
Bodacious Berry, Potency Wood and the Aging Monster:
Gender and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads
To n i C a l a s a n t i , Virginia Tech
This paper situates age discrimination within a broader system of age relations that intersects with other inequalities, and then uses that framework to analyze internet advertisements for the anti-aging industry. Such ads reinforce age and gender relations by positing old people as worthwhile only to the extent that they look and act like those who are middle aged or younger, by defi ning manhood and womanhood in opposition to each other, and by defi ning old age as an unhealthy loss of gender identity. These ads promote a reversion to middle age and white, middle-class, heterosexual norms of male performance and female beauty. The analysis demonstrates the utility of understanding age discrimination in terms of intersecting relations of inequality rather than learned attitudes alone.
Introduction
In 1969, coincident with equal rights movements, Robert Butler defined ageism as the “systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this with skin color and gender.” (Butler 1969:243) This means that while ageism may include stereotyping, or prejudice, it always involves exclusionary behavior. Such activity prevents full participation in the social networks – occupations, status groups, families, etc.
- that govern distribution of resources and privileges. Such exclusion occurs because of the way in which society is structured, rather than as a result of individual failure (Gibson 1998). For example, the dependence of older populations on state retirement schemes can be attributed to the changing labor force needs of capitalist economies (Townsend 1981) rather than low productivity or an inability to take care of oneself. Thus, discrimination not only expresses prejudice but also limits the life chances of its targets. Since this classic formulation, however, little theorizing concerning ageism, particularly in the United States, has occurred. Despite sociologists’ focus on inequalities, they have been curiously silent on this topic. Similarly, despite its focus on aging, social gerontology has seldom theorized how ageism operates and why. Instead, scholars have tended to assume but not demonstrate its widespread practice, often in ways that ignore Butler’s insights. Thus, ageism is sometimes discussed only in terms of attitudes or in relation to “positive
I am indebted to Neal King for his comments and advice on earlier drafts of this paper. Victor Marshall’s suggestions, and those of the anonymous reviewers, have also strengthened this paper. I appreciate the coding assistance of Valentina Lukyanova, Libbey Bowen and especially Anna LoMascolo. Finally, I am grateful for the research support provided by a Dean’s Fellow grant from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. Direct correspondence to Toni Calasanti, Department of Sociology, 560 McBryde Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061. E-mail: toni@vt.
© The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces , Volume 86, Number 1, September 2007
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hierarchies. Old people lose autonomy and authority, for example, in relation to their ability to be heard and exert control over personal decisions concerning their bodies. They are marginalized in the labor market and in the workplace, and become dependent upon the state; as such, they are seen as less than full citizens (Townsend 1981; Wilson 2000:161). Finally, the “cultural imperialism” of youth (Laws 1995:113) means that being old is to be avoided at all costs; even being around old people is akin to a sort of “social contagion” that would devalue anyone associated with them (Hurd 1999; Minichiello, Browne and Kendig 2000; Slevin 2006). While old age may exacerbate inequalities that accrue over the life course, it is a political location in its own right such that old people will experience exclusion, even if other privileged locations shape when and how this might occur. At the same time, age relations intersect with others such that the point at which one is designated “old” and experiences exclusion as a result will vary with race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and gender. Thus, for example, a white, middle-class, heterosexual woman, whose age will be judged primarily on the basis of her allure, might be able to “pass” as “not old” by using such techniques as cosmetic surgery and do so for a longer period of time than her less advantaged peers. However, such a fix is temporary and doomed to failure unless she dies before other signs of age appear. Although age relations are similar to other power relations in many ways, one critical difference obtains: age is fluid such that group membership shifts over time. Over the course of their lives, people can experience both advantage and disadvantage in terms of age relations, in patterned ways that include such dynamics as the accumulation of advantage and disadvantage over the life course (Dannefer 2003). While people can change locations along other dimensions of inequality, (e., shifting within the system of gender relations through sex re-assignment surgery), such mobility remains uncommon (Calasanti and Slevin 2001). Because ageism has implications for power and life chances, people may accept their chronological age but will avoid identifying themselves as “old” (Minichiello et al. 2000; Townsend, Godfrey and Denby 2006), a denial not observed in other age groups (other than among children vying for adult benefits). Negative aspects can accrue to other age categories, such as the dependence of infants or the immaturity of children. But, as Molly Andrews (1999) astutely notes, old age is the only life stage that we seek to eradicate. Unlike other age categorizations, in Western cultures old age carries little, if any, positive content that might serve to balance the negative. In the view provided by this framework, we can understand patterns in the concrete practice of marketing anti-aging to consumers. This industry makes of aging a disciplinary activity governed by expensive regimens that attempt to prevent the inevitable slide into a low-status group.
Aging Bodies, Age Discrimination and the Anti-Aging Industry
Similar to other forms of inequality, “ageism... is an embodied form of oppression” such that, “We cannot separate ageist practices from the bodies
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at which they are directed or in which they are constructed.” (Laws 1995:114) People interpret their physical changes in the context of inequalities of age (and sex, race, class and sexual orientation) (Calasanti and Slevin 2001; Laz 2003). For example, they construct the onset of menstruation differently from menopause, and treat problems with physical mobility differently for infants and for old people (Sheets 2005). Several constructions of bodies shape experiences of aging and old age in this society. First, members of this society equate old age with disease and decline. Second, people assume that health is self evident, appearing on the surface of a body. And third, we believe that people have control over their bodies and their health, through such means as diet or exercise regimens, by being “active,” or by consuming appropriate lifestyles (Estes, Biggs and Phillipson 2003; Katz 2000; McHugh 2000). Taken together, these folk beliefs create a situation in which people who appear unhealthy can be judged as deserving their suffering because they are to blame for not having altered their lifestyles to maintain health. By opposing old age to health, we stigmatize and exclude those who show signs of advancing age. Physical evidence of aging not only enables categorization but promotes differential treatment: “Old age is a disease, the symptoms of which are sagging, wrinkling, and graying – all of which are... symbols of a lack of control, which is unacceptable in contemporary society.” (Jones and Pugh 2005:254) Further, if good health is under an individual’s control and can be inferred from how bodies look and act, then bodies that appear to be old deserve differential treatment, even from one’s age peers:
“[I]n a modern world in which the body is a symbol of self- expression, is it likely that older people want to present themselves as lacking in self-control, as diseased? There... are numerous opportunities available for alleviation of many of the symptoms [of old age]. Not to resist signs of physical decay may be perceived as evidence of moral decline.” (Jones and Pugh 2005:255)
Indeed, Hurd’s (1999:420) research among older women finds that “old age and old bodies... generate fear, animosity, and distancing;” and, in the process of distancing, these women distinguished between those who are old and those who are not. The ways in which bodies are marked or experienced as “old” may vary by location within the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class and sexual orientation, but discrimination results in any case. The regulation of bodies and thus claims to full citizenship occurs in the context of what is commonly known as the “anti-aging industry.” This commercial and clinical industry “offers anti-aging products, regimens, and treatments” touted to forestall or even reverse aging (Binstock, Fishman and Johnson 2006). It is an interesting sign of the entrenchment of ageism that such nomenclature does not raise eyebrows or objections. Describing or estimating the size of the anti-aging industry is difficult; government agencies, analysts and marketers do not agree on exactly what falls
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reduction and sense-making effort that takes a volume of qualitative material and attempts to identify core consistencies and meanings.” (Patton 2002:453) Such analysis would demonstrate the extent to which the vocabulary of social inequality – age, gender, etc. – appears in this discourse.
Sample
The sample of 96 anti-aging websites was derived by first typing in the key phrase “anti-aging” into a search engine (altavista) and then identifying appropriate sites for analysis. The original 86,349 hits were culled by checking to see which of the sites were still active and appeared to sell anti-aging products or services. Sites that offered only education, advice, thoughts or debates on anti- aging, etc. were excluded, as were sites that merely mentioned the word “anti- aging” in passing or were subpages of sites already chosen. In addition, many hits were duplicates. Over time, duplicates and subpages became so numerous that the search of urls was abandoned after several pages of search results provided no new sites. This first screening yielded 120 sites. Subsequently, more careful analysis revealed that some of these 120 sites were not relevant or no longer existed. For example, closer inspection found that some sites served merely as clearinghouses for other sites or listed products but provided no further information and thus no codable data. In addition, three sites were added as a result of links from other sites. The final number of usable sites was 96.
Analysis
Coding occurred in two steps. First, I developed the original coding scheme for the content analysis of pictures and text (most of which were archived in order to allow for repeated coding), drawing on my interest in the ways aging was depicted, how bodies were discussed, and how inequalities based on race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexual orientation might shape/be shaped by these. Thus, the code sheet recorded the following: a description of the site (its purpose and the presence or absence of testimonials); how problems of old age/aging are defined; the proposed solutions for these problems/old age; gendered aspects of old age; aspects of aging bodies seen on the site; and depictions of other social locations (class, race and sexual orientation). Data analysis proceeded by analytic induction, which involves “examining the data in terms of theory-derived sensitizing concepts” while “look[ing] at the data afresh for undiscovered patterns and emergent understandings (inductive analysis).” (Patton 2002:454) For example, my interest in gendering and bodies led to coding data for both men and women in relation to different aspects of their bodies, such as muscle mass/tone, sexual performance/libido, appearance and the like. In the process of exploring these coded data, other themes emerged, such as “andropause” for men. In this manner, the data were recoded as themes emerged. The gendering of sites is ascertained in a variety of ways. Obvious indicators were sites or products geared only for women or only for men. On sites that had
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products or services for both men and women, gendering might be apparent in the language used or in pictures that accompanied the text. Coding was done in an open-ended manner such that text from websites could be copied and inserted into the code sheet. After an initial coding run with my research assistant, during which intercoder agreement was reached through a series of practice runs and discussion, I then modified and finalized our coding scheme. 3 After training, later assistants practiced coding some of the sites together to establish agreement. In addition, all the web pages were archived so that I could return to them to check codes and resolve discrepancies. 4 The data were then imported into QSR NUD*IST 6 to allow for further manipulation. I present the main findings of this analysis, beginning with a discussion of the depictions of aging as the equivalent of decline, and the mandate that people control aging bodies. The key to ageism is the notion that if one can discipline one’s body so as to forestall aging, one should do so – or else be deserving of marginalization. The following sections explore the ways in which men’s and women’s aging bodies are portrayed. Women are to focus on appearance, and men, performance. The final section demonstrates that, because femininity and masculinity are based on youthful standards, being old also means not being a woman or a man. The implications of these depictions for gender and age inequality are explored in the discussion and conclusion section.
Aging Bodies and the Anti-Aging Industry
Anti-aging websites offer similar products and services as those advertised in print and other media, but they often go further, probably because of the ease and relatively low cost with which advertisements can be posted. As a result, products with sometimes dubious claims can be marketed, often with the legal disclaimer that, “Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” Thus, one of the most common products advertised on these sites is human growth hormone (hGH); various other hormones, dietary supplements, as well as topical products and technologies are also sold, along with a variety of anti-aging services. In this sense, sites target those interested in conventional products and services and also customers willing to take additional risks (and spend money) to forestall or reverse aging. The websites reinforce constructions of aging bodies as markers of poor health and thus aspects of ourselves that we not only can, but should, control. Not following this dictate justifies stigmatization and exclusion. This is accomplished by first equating old age with disease and decline; it is characterized as the opposite of health, and thus negative. For example, the site Anti-Aging with HGH states that aging is the “disorganization, deterioration, dissolution, wear and tear that breaks our bodies down and causes us to look older.” (anti- aging-hghtherapy, accessed 9/11/02) Similarly, Dr. Lam maintains that “Aging is a disease accelerated by vitamin deficiency and malnutrition of monumental magnitude ignored for the past century. This silent epidemic affects 80% of all adults.” (drlam, accessed 3/24/04)
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right to beautiful, younger-looking skin are now a thing of the past!” Anti-Aging Formulas (ghspecial, accessed 9/11/02) notes that, “Those who want to maintain their youthful vitality and stamina should include an effective growth hormone therapy as part of their health regimen.” And according to Age Reversal Formulas, “the fountain of youth lies in the cells of all of us... all you need to do is release it!” Ultimately, aging is optional: “Science and technology have just made the onset effects of aging an option, rather than an inevitable fact of life,” (agereversalformulas/?source=overture, accessed 8/7/02) a sentiment echoed by Miracle Face Highlights: “Now you have a choice
- to face a future where time won’t tell.” (facemiracle/miracle2. htm, accessed 12/5/05) Scientific breakthroughs “[mark] the beginning of the end of aging, and the birth of the ageless society.” (hgh-pro/hghaging. html, accessed 9/11/02) Important for age discrimination, the message is clear: if you don’t make the proper choice, you are to blame. Products and services are promoted on the premise that we need to get rid of old age and, by extension, distance ourselves from “old.” If you can “stop the Aging Monster in its tracks,” then not using products and services means you deserve to be excluded.
Gender and Old Age: Intersecting Inequalities
The webpages displayed little variety by race, sexuality or class. They generally took whiteness and middle class as a standard; of the few pictures of racial or ethnic minorities that appeared, all were depicted as middle-class or better, as judged by such things as the style of dress or the environment (in an apparently expensive location, engaged in costly recreation, etc.) as well as the fact that products and services advertised were not inexpensive. Heterosexuality was the implicit standard throughout. While some web pages were fairly vague in this regard (these tended to be sites with very limited information or pictures), most assumed heterosexuality in text, pictures or both. Thus, gender was the main inequality that determined variation on these webpages because, in most cases, the men and women are assumed to be white, middle-class or better, and heterosexual. Of the 96 sites analyzed, only 8 were deemed to be gender neutral. Anti-aging ads directed at aging men emphasize bodies that perform while those for aging women focus on appearance. Further, these ads do so in such a way as to make clear that, first, men and women are opposites; second, the differences between men and women make them unequal; and, finally, gender implies youth and thus old age implies a shameful loss of same.
Women: Attracting Men
The gendering on anti-aging websites is conveyed both implicitly and overtly. For example, on the website, Tides of Life: Anti-aging for Men and Women (http:// tidesoflife/Anti-Aging.htm, accessed 8/5/02), the women’s health link is simply called “Women’s Health,” while the men’s health link is called “Men’s Health, Energy, and Libido” and focuses on “potency,” “duration,” “stamina,” “drive” and athleticism. This gender difference is spelled out even more clearly
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on the website for the Center for Anti-Aging Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery (facefaqs/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?pg=antiaging, accessed 9/11/02). The cosmetic surgery page, titled “Reshaping Your Body,” shows a thin, young, naked woman from the pelvis to the shoulders, with her arms folded over her breasts. Breast reshaping is offered for women: “Breast reshaping involves enlarging or reducing the breast size as well as lifting and reshaping sagging breasts to give a more up-lifting, youthful appearance.” By contrast, the goal of male breast reduction is “to provide men with more masculine shaped pectorals.” Breast surgery for her recasts her appearance as alluring; and though a man also relates to appearance, his goal is to evince muscularity and strength. Gender behavioral goals are often defined in terms of “toned bodies,” which translates into gaining muscle and athleticism (masculine/performance), and losing weight/not being flabby (feminine/appearance). Again, both men and women might be told to lose weight, but the motivations for this and products to be used reveal differences. Two web pages linked from the Center for Anti-Aging Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery, both directed at nutrition and fitness, illustrate how these same goals may diverge by gender. The “Introducing NutriFit” link, featuring a program of weight reduction/management, exercise and good nutrition, is geared towards women. It displays an image of a young, naked woman’s derrière, and protein powder featured in flavors such as “Vigorously Vain Vanilla” and “Bodacious Berry.” The Nutrition, Fitness and Weight Loss page is a more masculine page, accompanied by the picture of a muscular man’s torso, and text reading, “Peak nutrition and optimal exercise yield peak health, greater energy and productivity, greater self-esteem and success.” Words such as peak health, productivity and success have a more masculine ring to them, whereas the more feminized pages emphasize things like “vanity” and “radiant skin.” Similarly, the supplements section on Terry’s Total Fitness site (http://www. ttfit.com/GHreleaser, accessed 9/8/02) shows a photo of a woman standing on a scale next to the weight loss supplements section. This contrasts with the male weight lifter pictured by the sports performance section. On several other sites, men are pictured in athletic contexts (swimming in pools, lifting in weight rooms, flexing muscles in competition, etc.). Although women are sometimes depicted athletically, lifting small free weights or riding a bike, they often pose more as models. Thus, the Weight Loss page on the Drugstore-Pharmacy (http:// drugstore-pharmacy accessed 9/11/02) is gender-neutral in terms of the way the products are targeted, but men’s bodies are shown in muscle flexing poses, while women are in modeling, sexy poses. And the many sites that offer “tummy firming” and “breast firming” are geared toward women, and emphasize appearance, not muscle-building or athleticism. Such notions about “toning” extend to women’s skin (but, with a few exceptions, not to men’s), and the many webpages targeting wrinkles, age spots and the like convey, even without pictures, that these are problems for women’s bodies. Thus, we see skin care products for firming skin advertised as “for mature or menopausal skin.” (anti-age, accessed 8/10/02) All of this recasts aging women as potentially alluring to men and in competition with other women in doing so. In the case of aging women, their heterosexual
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to “reduce the appearance of wrinkles” on women. Similarly, the Newport Anti-Aging Medical Association site (newportantiaging/index. html, accessed 9/5/02) associates fitness, libido and musculature with men, but weight loss and estrogen replacement with women. And on the site, Tides of Life, Anti-Aging for Men & Women (tidesoflife/Anti-Aging. htm), the men’s health link, called “Men’s Health, Energy, and Libido,” features products that focus on libido (using such words as “potency,” “duration,” “stamina” and “drive”) and athleticism. As is appropriate for men’s more active sexuality, men’s products begin by stimulating their libidos: “Think of it as priming the pump – the body has to want to do it.” (renewman/SexualFunction0319.htm, accessed 9/5/02) And the ad for the supplement, Super Testron, makes the link between strength (power) and sex clear. Beginning with its suggestive ingredients (“Trillium Erectum and Potency Wood”), Super Testron promises to restore strength and thus youth:
Originally created for sports enthusiasts, body builders and power lifters, Super Testron has also proven to “revive” male libido.... This supplement increases sexual drive, frequency and duration, especially in middle-aged and older men. (http:// tidesoflife/supertestron.htm, accessed 9/11/02)
In addition to the gender relations implied by this quote, we also see how the anti-aging industry affirms age relations by promoting youth-based ideals of old age. The importance of sexual function for forestalling old age is made clear on the AgingPrevent website, where potential customers are greeted first by the sight of the Mars symbol (♂) thrusting forward as the page loads, and then (after clicking on the “seX button”), by the heading, “Good, ethical sex is the best anti-aging medicine we have.” (agingprevent/flash/index.html, accessed 7/17/02) The “good, ethical sex” promoted on these sites has, as its standard, a type of activity that is defined in relation to youth. It is based, first, on penile penetration, as this pitying depiction of sexual performance in later life conveys:
Without hormonal input, the muscles gradually wither and sustained fullness of erection becomes impossible. Even more catastrophically, a decrease in the tension of the ischio cavernosa prevents blood from being maintained in the chambers of the penis, with results as “deflating to the ego as a flat tire in the Indianapolis 500.” (http://www. renewman.com/SexualFunction0319, accessed 9/5/02)
Sexual performance is also to mimic the frequency of earlier years: “Feel alive again, feel positive about yourself, and have the same sex drive you had when were younger.” (feel21/cgi-bin/feel21/09282, accessed 8/14/02) Failing pumps cannot provide the force that manhood requires. These sites offer by way
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of solution the consumption of anti-aging products, which can restore youthful performance: “RxErect: You’ve heard many promises. Get ready. Have fun! Be fulfilled! Do it again! And again! And again!” (tidesoflife/rxerect. htm, accessed 9/11/02) This image of a mechanical drive restored is contrasted to those who “give in” to aging, and the marginal status that such acquiescence brings. The reNEWMAN site describes such a scenario:
[M]en are blasted with a reality check during their mid- forties....[T]he erection that once greeted them in the morning ceases while their muscle definition fades and they notice they are getting a bit flabby around the middle. ‘It’s all part of aging,’ they are told and they settle grudgingly into old age. (renewman/Andropause0319. htm, accessed 9/11/02)
Of course, sexual activity is just one area in which old men lose their ability to perform. A less prevalent but significant theme related to the performance of paid work. A testimonial on the web site, Anti-Wrinkle Product with GHR-15, gives a clear picture of how and why men are considered old and thus marginalized: “Is there anything worse than being an obsolete old man?.... It’s no longer inevitable to become old, weak and incapable.” (anti-wrinkle-product- ghr-15, accessed 3/24/06) Defying old age means not just demonstrating strength and capability, but competing in the paid work realm as well. And the anti-aging industry can help men maintain their competitiveness. Cosmetic surgery is one possibility; according to one site,
[T]housands of forty-something men have been undergoing surgery... Most have been more concerned with how the surgery will boost their success in the boardroom than in the bedroom... Executive plastic surgery allows the active businessman to plan and prepare for procedures that will allow for excellent rejuvenating procedures with a minimum of downtime and quick return to a busy schedule... [M]en say that their cosmetic surgery procedures often provide that jump start for success in a new job position, a competitive edge in a highly visible job... (jromano/ text/mlprocedures, accessed 8/13/03)
According to a testimonial from another web site, other anti-aging products, such as supplements, can help aging men dominate in the work place and thus avoid becoming old:
I’m the oldest salesperson (62 years old) on a sales force of 52 people. I physically work hard at a Ford Dealership for 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week. ... [With this
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“masculinization” includes socially defined hegemonic traits, such as “purpose, decisiveness, courage and motivation.” (antiaging/andropause. html, accessed 8/28/02) Ominous messages concerning the loss of testosterone are sometimes paired with assertions that men are being “assaulted” by “estrogen” such that, “Mother nature and father time are not only depleting your testosterone reserves but are also trying to overload you with estrogen.” (lifespringmen. com/HormoneHealth, accessed 8/28/02) Men are warned that “studies have shown that the estrogen levels of the average 54-year-old man is higher than those of the average 59-year-old woman!” (antiaging-systems/ extract/estroblock, accessed 8/19/02) The combined loss of testosterone and “estrogen assault” not only threatens an aging man’s masculinity, but is also physically threatening. Some websites decry the “testosterone/estrogen imbalance that directly causes many of the debilitating health problems associated with normal aging.” (http://www. antiaging-systems.com/extract/estroblock, accessed 8/19/02) The Newport Anti-Aging Medical Association maintains that, “Testosterone may in fact be the single factor that links all age-related degenerative diseases. It is certainly intimately tied to the male cycle of aging... Many age-related chronic and even acute diseases are associated with a decrease in production of testosterone...” (newportantiaging/docs/testosterone.html, accessed 8/19/02) Some even contend that, contrary to medical wisdom, “replacing testosterone does not increase but rather decreases the chances of developing prostate cancer. One of the primary causes of prostate cancer is excess estrogen.” (http:// renew.sonstone.com/Testosterone/Tabid/779/default, accessed 9/5/02) Becoming less masculine and more feminine will thus take a physical toll, even leading to death. Finally, some ads equate the loss of testosterone itself with aging:
Until the early 1990’s medical science believed certain key hormones declined because we age. We now know the opposite is true. We age because those hormone levels decline. (renewyouth/why_we_age.htm, accessed 9/5/02)
Thus, LifeSpring Medical Group proclaims that they “have now discovered the secrets of the Fountain of Youth!” It is testosterone:
Optimum Male Performance, Vitality and Health can be achieved if you maintain your testosterone levels as high as they once were in your youth. Testosterone is... essential for providing you with a youthful sex drive, high mental and physical energy, muscle size and strength, focus and concentration and slowing down the aging clock. (http:// lifespringmen/AntiAging.htm, accessed 8/28/02)
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Thus, men and women are not only socially but biologically opposed and must remain so in order to avoid growing old. Those who have grown old have ostensibly lost their claim to gendered status and must seek expensive treatment so that they may return to gendered health.
Discussion and Conclusion
Haber (2001/2002) shows that attempts to defy aging have been around for centuries; and the current push to view it as a disease and cure it with lifestyle change has precedent in earlier forays. Consistently rooted in social and economic conditions, the antipathy toward aging and those who are old that fuels anti-aging is based in faulty demographic assumptions, predictions of economic crises, and a depiction of “the nation on the verge of disaster, overwhelmed by the needs of the incapacitated elderly.” (Haber 2001/2002:12) Our belief in the ability of science and technology to solve life’s difficulties is not new, though perhaps we cling to it more fiercely than in previous historical contexts. Global communication enhances the ability of those scientists and marketers who proclaim that “aging is not inevitable” to be heard around the world. The available markets are both larger and more easily reached, and the internet allows for anyone to get involved in the business of selling anti-aging products and services. The ageism that is part and parcel of the anti-aging industry is thus spread wider than before. Given that “[w]e respond to the representation of an old person as much as ... we respond to old people,” (Laws 1995:116) the aversion to aging that these anti-aging ads express justifies the exclusion of old people from many of the occupational, consumer and other social networks. When we combine the belief that we should control aging (“disease”) with promises of slowing or altering it, the pressure to not appear old (i., have visible markers of aging) increases. The presumed ability to control this process through lifestyle and consumer choices can justify the ageism heaped upon those who do not “choose” to stem their aging. Old people are no longer adults in the sense of being entitled to the equal rights attendant to that status. At the same time, the anti-aging advertisements reviewed here convey a second message, one that has been largely unexamined. The hegemonic adult body is a gendered body, as well as one inscribed with a race (white), class (middle class or better), and sexual orientation (heterosexuality). While the race, class and sexual orientation remained constant on the web pages, thus rendering all “others” invisible, the ways in which white, middle-class and heterosexual men and women were displayed suggest that what constitutes being old – the basis for discrimination – varies by gender. On these websites, men’s and women’s bodies are defined as opposites, with different hormones that dictate both the physical and social aspects of femininity and masculinity. The social inequality that accrues to being a man or a woman is thus rooted in biology; to maintain youthfulness, then, one must maintain this hierarchy. Appearances account for larger shares of women’s social capital than they do for men; as a result, “many women are permanently dissatisfied with their appearance and feel they must strive to change or enhance it to meet some unattainable standard of beauty.” (Jones and Pugh 2005:253) The stress on
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men are expected to shape their bodies to fit youthful ideals of occupational and sexual competence, while re-inscribing the gender inequalities embedded in these. The double-bind encourages consumers to spend ever more time, money and effort on not aging, and stigmatizes them for inevitable failure. It exacerbates the burden that old people, and women in particular, face as they age to “do the right thing” and their guilt for being unable to do so. Such dictates do not really counter ageism let alone sexism; and no matter what, bodies have impulses that we cannot control (Laz 2003), and they will alter with age. At best, we forestall the point at which individuals bodies become marked as old and hence deserving of exclusion.
Notes
For a longer discussion of age relations, see Calasanti 2003.
Classical and modern theorists of inequality focus on skewed distributions of land and labor power (Marx 1967; Wright 1989), authority (Weber 1978; Dahrendorf 1959), honor or prestige (Collins 2004; Treiman 1977), and access to social networks (Warner and Low 1949; Coleman 1990). A relation of oppression is one in which the group with more and better resources can use its authority to control those with less; and ideologies justify the inequities with reference to nature, the needs of complex societies, or the will of higher powers.
The majority of the sites were coded in the late summer and fall of 2002. Funding constraints delayed the completion of coding until 2005-2006.
Nearly all sites were archived; but a few disappeared so quickly after the initial search and coding run that they could not be saved. Still, many of the sites used in this paper still exist (and some even carry the same text); some have a new home page link.
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Calasanti. Gender and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads
Course: Anthropology Of Aging (ANTH 302)
University: York College CUNY
