Abstract
This discourse analytic study shows how 10 older women, who exercise regularly or attend the University of the Third Age, adjust to the ageing body in their ;everyday talk' through taking a dualist position. The part of the body which is discursively constructed as ageing becomes objectified through appealing to a wider cultural discourse of ageing as biological decline. This dualist position is embedded within a wider cultural discourse of personal agency. The individual's control of the ageing body is emphasized, the ability to monitor and manage ;ageing body parts' through exerting the ;active mind' and the ;busy body' in activities, or simply focusing on ;looking good'.
Highlights
MethodologyEthical approval was obtained for the study
THERE IS a lack of discourse analytic research focusing on the ageing body within critical health psychology, in terms of the range of discourses surrounding functionality and appearance. Radley (2000) has emphasized the need for critical health psychology to consider the meaning of embodiment
No comparable qualitative Foucauldian discourse analytic study has been located in the health psychology research literature
Summary
Ethical approval was obtained for the study. Interviewees signed a consent form giving permission for qualitative interviews to be tape-recorded and the data to be published anonymously. Ten women between the ages of 58 and 83 years old were recruited from contexts promoting active ageing (a fitness centre and the University of the Third Age), so that positive as well as negative ways of talking about the ageing body could be identified. The focus is on open-ended questions, to allow the interviewee to tell their own story. The interview agenda was used as a checklist, which meant that the interviewer focused on the main themes and the specific questions were only asked if the interviewee needed prompting (Kvale, 1996; Mason, 1996). Eight questions were utilized for the interview schedule: 1. Eight questions were utilized for the interview schedule: 1. What do you think when you look in the bathroom mirror?
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