The sustainability of gender norms: women over 30 and their physical appearance on holiday

Abstract

The present study examines women’s experiences of their physical appearance on holiday questioning whether gendered norms, focussed on the “ïdeal” body, are sustainable if women are to experience fully the health and wellness benefits promised in a holiday. While the research focus on body image has most often been adolescents and young women, this study explores the experiences of midlife and older women. Employing the feminist research method, memory-work, women individually wrote memories of recent experiences of physical appearance while on holiday and discussed them in collectives. The findings suggest that while some of the older women appear to have resisted societal directives for the body by focussing on what the body could do, rather than what the body looked like, for most, the dominant image of the body was oppressive with memories of appearance related to body weight/shape and clothing. The findings suggest that women, as they age, are confronted by gender, age and health discourses which are difficult to resist. Whether or not women can challenge core societal beliefs about appearance has implications for whether they can experience the freedom and lack of constraints popularly associated with a holiday.