Już nie kobieta? Samoocena atrakcyjności ciała starzejących się wdów

• Authors: Dorota Niewiedział

Title variants

EN

No longer a woman? The physical attractiveness of ageing widows

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article is concerned with the self-assessment of the attractiveness of their bodies by widowed women in late adulthood. The psychosocial aspects of old women’s widowhood and the mechanisms that are shaping and maintaining their subjective attractiveness of the body are presented. 134 widows between 61 and 78 years old participated in the research. They were not in new formal or informal relationship with a man. In the presented research, the BES S.L. Franzoi and S.A. Shields test was used to examine a body image. The obtained results in the fitness scale indicate that the respondents (despite the lowered overall level of satisfaction in this scale) find the greatest satisfaction in their health, coordination, muscle strength and agility, while they are least satisfied with reflex or biceps. The results of research on satisfaction with body weight show (taking into account the generally lowered satisfaction) that respondents perceive and evaluate their weight mostly on the basis of the shape of their waist and whole figure, but are not satisfied with their appetite and thighs. Some widows are satisfied with their pretty face. The results show that the subjective assessment of the attractiveness of the widows’ body stems mostly from a sense of sexual attractiveness.

Keywords

PL

wdowieństwo; atrakcyjność ciała starzejących się kobiet; kobiecość

EN

widowhood; attractiveness of ageing women’s body; femininity

• Publisher: Zielona Góra University Press
• Journal: Dyskursy Młodych Andragogów / Adult Education Discourses
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 15
• Pages: 263-278

Dates

published

2014

Contributors

author

Dorota Niewiedział

• Uniwersytet Zielonogórski, ul. Licealna 9, 65-001 Zielona Góra, Poland

References

• Ballard K., Elston M., Gabe M.J., Beyond the mask: women’s experiences of public and private aging during midlife and their use of age-resisting activities, „Health” 2005, vol. 9 (2).
• Bankoff E., Social Support and Adaptation to Widowhood, „Journal of Marriage and the Family” 1983, vol. 45, no 4.
• Bedford J.L., Johnson S., Societal influences on body image dissatisfaction in younger and older women, „Journal of Women and Aging” 2006, vol. 18 (1).
• Biggs S., Choosing not to be old? Masks, bodies and identity management in later life, „Aging and Society” 1997, vol. 17.
• Buss D.M., Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures, „Behavioral and Brain Sciences” 1989, vol. 12 (1).
• Carr D., Utz R., Late-life Widowhood in the United States: New Directions in Research and Theory, „Ageing International” 2002, vol. 27, no 1.
• Chambers P., Older widows and the life course: Multiple narratives of hidden lives, New York 2005.
• Coupland J., Gendered discourses on the ‘problem’ of ageing: consumerized solutions, „Discourse and Communication” 2007, vol. 1.
• Davidson K., Gender differences in new partnership choices and constraints for older widows and widowers, „Ageing International” 2002, vol. 27, no 4.
• Deutsch F.M., Zalenski C.M., Clark M.E., Is there a double standard of aging?, „Journal of Applied Social Psychology” 1986, vol. 16 (9).
• Dumas A., Laberge S., Straka S., Older women’s relations to bodily appearance: the embodiment of social and biological conditions of existence, „Aging and Society” 2005, vol. 25.
• Featherstone M., Hepworth M., The mask of ageing and the postmodern life course, [w:] The body, social process and cultural theory, red. M. Featherstone, M. Hepworth, B. Turner, London 1991.
• Ferraro K.F., Aging and role transitions, [w:] Handbook of aging and the social sciences, red. R.H. Binstock, L.K. George, San Diego 2001.
• Franzoi S.L., Shields S.A., The Body Esteem Scale: Multidimensional Structure and Sex Differences in a College Population, „Journal of Personality Assessment” 1984, vol. 48, is. 2.
• Gibson D., Broken down by age and gender “The Problem of Old Women” Redefined, „Gender & Society” 1996, vol. 10, no 4.
• Giesen C.B., Aging and attractiveness: Marriage makes a difference, „International Journal of Aging and Human Development” 1989, vol. 29 (2).
• Halliwell E., Dittmar H., A qualitative investigation of women’s and men’s body image concerns and their attitudes toward aging, „Sex Role” 2003, vol. 49 (11-12).
• Harris M.B., Growing old gracefully: Age concealment and gender, „Journal of Gerontology” 1994, vol. 49 (4).
• Langlois J.H., Roggman L.A., Musselman L., What is average and what is not average about attractive face?, „Psychological Science” 1994, vol. 5.
• Lewis D.M., Cachelin F.M., Body image, body dissatisfaction, and eating attitudes in midlife and elderly women, „Eating Disorders” 2001, vol. 9 (1).
• Lew-Starowicz Z., Seks w jesieni życia, Warszawa 2000.
• Lieberman M., Doors Close, Doors Open: widows grieving and growing, New York 1996; P. Baltes, H. Reese, L. Lipsitt, Life-span Developmental Psychology, „Annual Review of Psychology” 1980, vol. 31.
• Matthews A.M., Widowhood in Later Life (Butterworths perspectives on individual and population aging), New York 1991.
• O’Bryant S.L., Hansson R.O., Widowhood, [w:] Handbook of aging and the family, red. R. Blieszner, V.H. Bedford, London 1995.
• Oberg P., Tornstam L., Body Images among men and women of different ages, „Aging and Society” 1999, vol. 19.
• Owen M., A World of Widows, New Jersey 1996.
• Paprzycka E., Kobiety żyjące w pojedynkę. Między wyborem a przymusem, Warszawa 2008.
• Paulson S., How various «cultures of fitness» shape subjective experience of growing older, „Aging and Society” 2005, vol. 25.
• Paulson S., Willig C., Older woman and everyday talk about the ageing body, „Journal of Health Psychology” 2008, vol. 13.
• Podegrodzka M., Zróżnicowanie umieralności według stanu cywilnego, „Studia Demograficzne” 1992, nr 3.
• Sontag S., The double standard of aging, „Saturday Review” 1972, vol. 23.
• Straś-Romanowska M., Późna dorosłość. Wiek starzenia się, [w:] Psychologia rozwoju człowieka. Charakterystyka okresów życia człowieka, red. B. Harwas-Napierała, J. Trempała, Warszawa 2004.
• Sugarman L., Life-Span Development: Frameworks, Accounts and Strategies, New York 2001.
• Tobiasz-Adamczyk B., Brzyski P., Bajka J., Społeczne uwarunkowania jakości życia kobiet u progu wieku starszego, Kraków 2004.
• Twigg J., Clothing and the body: a critical review, „Aging and Society” 2007, vol. 27.
• Winniczuk L., Kobiety świata antycznego, Warszawa 1973.
• Woodward K., Aging and its discontents: Freud and other fictions, Bloomington 1991.
• Yahnke R.E., Women’s body image, „The Gerontologist” 2004, vol. 44 (3)

Identifiers

ISBN

978-83-7842-129-0

ISSN

2084-2740