Visualizing risk: Health, gender and the ageing body

Abstract

The promotion of ‘active’ ageing in later life has been a key development in recent health and social care policy. These changes not only challenge the prevalent view of old age as an inevitable process of biological decline but also signify the tendency of lay and expert discourses to increasingly use the notion of risk. At the same time, older people’s social identities need to be negotiated in the context of positive ( active) and negative ( passive) images of ageing. This paper reports findings from a study that explored visual images associated with health, risk and well-being targeted at people aged 50 years and over. Two key themes emerged: (1) Active Ageing: which included images of being active through physical activity, group activities, the promotion of paid and unpaid work, and images of learning opportunities in later life, such as computing; and (2) Health, Risk and Dependency: which included visual images of health risks, everyday risks associated with safety and security, and images of embodied dependencies, such as the use of mobility aids and informal/formal care relationships. Perceptions of risk were heightened by intersecting images of domestic space with symbols of risk, danger and alarm. Gender, ageing and the body were further intertwined within these visual images, with men more likely to be portrayed as active and the women as dependent, at risk and passive. The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of these findings for policy and social care services, in particular, the ways that visual images not only reflect and reproduce social differences, but can influence our bodily conduct and perceptions of risk in everyday life.