Zgryźliwość kojarzy mi się z radością, która źle skończyła.
Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
www.elsevier.com/locate/jaging
The body natural and the body unnatural: Beauty work and aging
Laura Hurd Clarke
⁎
, Meridith Griffin
School of Human Kinetics, The University of British Columbia, 156-1924 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2
Received 15 September 2006; received in revised form 30 October 2006; accepted 30 November 2006
Abstract
This paper examines older women's perceptions of natural and unnatural aging in relation to the use of beauty work
interventions, including anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dyes, cosmetic surgeries, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The
data are drawn from in-depth interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70. The women tended to define natural aging as a lack of
beauty work intervention and argued that this was a commendable goal. However, the majority engaged in beauty work and many
articulated the importance of producing a
‘
natural look
’
through their beauty practices. While some women argued for an
acceptance of the physical realities of growing older, others asserted that an aged appearance should be fought against using
whatever beauty work interventions were required and available. We discuss the meanings that the women attribute to natural and
unnatural aging in relation to the literature concerning ageism, the body, cosmetic surgery, nature, and technology.
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Ageism; Beauty work; Feminist theory; Women
1. Introduction
In this paper, we examine how the older woman defined and experienced aging in relation to the use of beauty work
interventions, including anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dyes, cosmetic surgeries, and non-surgical cosmetic
procedures (e.g., Botox injections, chemical peels, injectable fillers, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, and laser
skin treatments). Employing data from interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70, our findings suggest that the concept
of natural aging is both complex and taken for granted in the women's perceptions of beauty, beauty work, and aging.
While some women defined natural aging in terms of a lack of non-surgical and surgical cosmetic intervention, other
women suggested that natural aging entailed the use of anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dyes, and non-surgical and
surgical cosmetic procedures to establish and maintain a
‘
natural look
’
. The women distinguished between
‘
natural
’
and
aging and articulated positions of acceptance versus resistance of the physical realities of growing older.
We discuss the meanings that the women attributed to natural and unnatural aging in relation to the literature
concerning ageism, the body, cosmetic surgery, nature, and technology.
‘
graceful
’
⁎
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 604 822 4281; fax: +1 604 822 5884.
E-mail addresses:
(L. Hurd Clarke),
(M. Griffin).
0890-4065/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:
188
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
2. Literature review
Defining natural
The concept of natural has been a source of contentious debate as theorists posit and refute the binary opposition of
nature and culture (
Balsamo, 1996; Douglas, 1970; Suleiman, 1986
). One view of the natural body is that of a pre-cultural
body, or a pre-existing entity free of cultural pressures and influences (
Bloch & Bloch, 1980; Fraser, 2001; Laqueur &
Gallagher, 1987; Negrin, 2002
). According to this perspective, nature is a pure and original condition that is desirable,
necessitates no explanation, and defies historical change (
Fraser, 2001; Laqueur & Gallagher, 1987; Negrin, 2002
).
Alternatively, some theorists suggest that culture is privileged over nature, and human/patriarchal existence
constitutes a struggle against the primordial and diminishing forces of nature (
Balsamo, 1996; Fraser, 2001; Wei Leng,
1996
). Within this paradigm, women are perceived to be closer to nature than men and are, therefore, inferior (
Balsamo,
1996; Fraser, 2001; Haraway, 1991; Ortner, 1974
). Femininity is socially constructed as an incontrovertible category
against which culture is defined (
Balsamo, 1996; Fraser, 2001; Grosz, 1994; Haraway, 1991; Harding, 1986; Wei Leng,
1996
) and the gendered body is a
“
site for the contestation of social and individual power;
…
the locus of both
oppression and empowerment, simultaneously
(
Reischer & Koo, 2004
: 314). Similarly, references to the natural (or
pre-cultural) body tend to reproduce normative and dichotomous categories of sex and gender (
Fraser, 2001; Haraway,
1991
) thereby privileging what is male over what is female.
At the same time, many feminist and postmodern theorists deny the distinction between nature and culture. These
theorists argue instead that the
”
“
natural
”
body is socially constructed by biological and medical discourses about the
“
”
body and that these discourses are
(
Reisher & Koo, 2004
:
310;
Grosz, 1994; Negrin, 2002; Wei Leng, 1996
). Feminists contend that the oft-accepted nature/culture dichotomy
inaccurately presumes that what is
commonly viewed as impervious to cultural or social bias
“
”
is outside of culture and thus outside of power relations (
Brush, 1998;
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002
).
Grosz (1994)
elaborates, explaining that bodies:
natural
cannot be adequately understood as ahistorical, precultural, or natural objects in any simple way; they are not
only inscribed, marked, engraved, by social pressures external to them but are the products, the direct effects, of
the very social constitution of nature itself. (p. x)
In this way, the natural body is a misleading construct that fails to acknowledge that all bodies are inevitably shaped and
controlled by cultural discourses and norms.
Technological intervention and the unnatural body
Haraway (1991)
presents a postmodern and feminist conception of
the unnatural body, specifically the body as a cybernetic organism (cyborg) that is a hybrid being of the organic and the
technological. This amalgamation of technology and organism is iconic of our current material reality as evidenced by the
development of beauty work interventions (e.g., Botox injections or breast implants), medical innovations (e.g., pacemakers
or joint replacements), and pharmaceuticals, to name just a few.
Haraway (1991)
argues that the blending of the human with
nonhuman material represents the blurring of boundaries between limiting and historically pervasive dualisms: human/
machine, nature/culture, and male/female. The resulting lack of distinction sanctions a new understanding of the self as a
hybrid entity whose
In her rejection of the essentialist category of
“
natural,
”
(
Negrin,
2002
:29).
Haraway (1991)
thus regards technological intervention as a critical aspect of embodiment as the cyborg has the
potential to transcend normative gender dualisms and reshape power relations through the destabilization of the masculine
master narratives and epistemologies of science, religion, politics, and technology (
Balsamo, 1996
).
While the cyborg concept expounds a desirable objective of equality and freedom from the insidious and
constrictive dichotomies of male and female, critics have claimed that a cyborg world is unrealistically idealistic, or
utopic (
Balsamo, 1996; Doane, 1986; Gonzalez, 2000; Muri, 2003
).
Gonzalez (2000)
is sceptical of
Haraway's (1991)
utopic vision as she contends that the cyborg is limited by the human imagination: as people continue to be situated in
power relations and culture, the cyborgs that our imaginations produce are not necessarily more free of the social
constraints that limit humans and machines already (
Gonzalez, 2000
). Indeed, our limited technological imagination
can only produce cyborgs that are embedded in power relations and culture (
Balsamo, 1996; Gonzalez, 2000
). For this
“
contours are permeable
…
fluid and open to constant change rather than fixed and immutable
”
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
189
reason,
will not necessarily make class, racial, and gender oppression redundant, and
Haraway's
(1991)
imagined and idyllic
“
cyborgization
”
world is still demonstratively remote (
Balsamo, 1996
).
Similarly, theorists such as
Davis (1997, 2003)
,
Hayles (1999)
and
Muri (2003)
further critique postmodern body
culture theorizing as being an excessively
“
post-gendered
”
“
cerebral, esoteric, and
—
ironically
—
disembodied activity, which distances
us from individuals' everyday embodied experiences and practices
(
Davis, 2003
: 9). Indeed,
Davis (1997, 2003)
contends that a utopian approach to the synthesis of the body with technology results in ambivalence towards the
material body and the privileging of the body as metaphor thus leaving out the sentient and embodied human subject.
”
Body work, feminist theory and ageism
Focusing attention on the lived experience of embodied females and the notion of the natural body versus various
interventions, feminist academic discussion regarding women and beauty work has covered a wide range of practices,
such as hair (
Furman, 1997; Gimlin, 2002; Weitz, 2001
), make-up (
Beausoleil, 1994
), fashion (
Jeffreys, 2005
), diet,
exercise, and eating disorders (
Bordo, 2003; Brumberg, 1997; Gimlin, 2002; Hesse-Biber, 1996
), and surgical and non-
surgical cosmetic procedures (
Davis, 1995, 2003; Hurd Clarke, Repta, & Griffin, in press; Morgan, 1991
). Within this
literature, theorists present conflicting interpretations, arguing that women who engage in beauty work practices are
either victims of false consciousness or individuals who freely exercise choice and agency (
Davis, 1995, 2003; Gagne
& McGaughey, 2002
). The false consciousness, or determinist, perspective suggests that although women are never
“
in an
attempt to achieve standards of beauty constructed within an oppressively patriarchal and ageist society (
Bartky, 1998;
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002; Morgan, 1991; Negrin, 2002
). Thus, women are effectively submitting to objectification
in a social realm where deficient femininity entails a failure to achieve and maintain a young, slim, toned, and wrinkle-
free body (
Bordo, 2003; Davis, 1991; Hurd, 2000
). However, women's submission to cultural norms of feminine
beauty necessitates an ongoing struggle against the physical realities of growing older and the subjugation of the
natural body. According to proponents of the determinist or false consciousness perspective, the natural body that has
not submitted to ageist and patriarchal definitions of beauty and femininity and corresponding body work interventions
is superior or, at the very least, less constrained by ageism and sexist oppression.
Opposing the false consciousness perspective is the argument that women are instead empowered and judicious
decision makers, and that they perform even extreme beauty-related practices (e.g., invasive cosmetic surgery) through
free choice (
Davis, 1995; Gagne & McGaughey, 2002; Negrin, 2002
). In this view, women are not just submitting to
the
marched off to electrolysis at gunpoint
”
(
Bartky, 1998
: 37), they participate in these practices of
“
femininity
”
“
dictates of patriarchal ideology but
…
actively engaging with it, knowledgeable of its drawbacks as well as its
benefits
(
Negrin, 2002
: 21;
Davis, 1995
).
Davis (1995, 2003)
further contends that determinist arguments subvert the
knowledge of the female subject. She calls for recognition of the possibilities for agency and empowerment in the
decision to undergo cosmetic surgery, a decision she sees as an opportunity for women to exercise control and to raise
social currency (in a patriarchal and ageist culture) on their own terms. Women act with agency and seek out cosmetic
procedures, then, with an understanding of the natural body as a passive material that must necessarily be built upon,
overcome or adapted (
Fraser, 2001
) in a social context that emphasizes youthfulness and physical attractiveness.
Gagne and McGaughey (2002: 817)
articulate a problem with the discourse of free choice, namely that it entails an
”
“
uncritical adoption of hegemonic ideas of what is normal or natural
…
[a] premise [that] is problematic because it
presumes that
. A common argument within the
agency perspective is that the goal of cosmetic surgery and other cosmetic procedures is to look normal or natural
(
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002; Wilson & Laennec, 1997
), and thus better. As exemplified by the surgeons and women
that
Dull and West (1991)
interviewed, proponents of this perspective further contend that the pursuit of beauty is
normative and natural for women. However, critics assert that this appearance-focused mentality is ultimately
determinist, as all
‘
natural
’
is outside of culture and hence outside of power relations
”
“
”
norms are informed by the ageist and patriarchal power structures that are still
dominant in contemporary culture (
Bartky, 1998; Dull & West, 1991; Gagne & McGaughey, 2002
).
Gagne and
McGaughey (2002)
maintain that both the false consciousness (determinist) and free will (agency) perspectives treat
the body as a passive object. They conclude by asserting that there is a need for a synthesized theoretical perspective
that accounts for the subjectivity that has been absent
naturalistic
in the opposed descriptions of women's agency and
subordination in the beauty work arena.
In summary, within the debates surrounding the definitions of nature and culture, the body is a site of ongoing
struggle. According to some theorists, the natural body is one that is unmodified by technological interventions such
190
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
as anti-wrinkle creams, hair dyes, make-up, cosmetic surgery, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Thus, the
natural, aging body exists outside of extant beauty norms and wrinkles, sagging skin, and gray hair are both permitted
and expected. In contrast, other theorists contend that technological youth and beauty enhancing practices are
becoming increasingly normalized and are a natural requirement of feminine body work. Underlying this perspective
are sexist and ageist norms that compel women to subjugate the natural body and resist the physical realities
of growing older. In this way, the natural, aged body is a failed body that must be rejected, camouflaged, and
technologically altered.
Although there has been extensive theorizing about the natural and unnatural body, this literature has not been
adequately complemented with substantive research (
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002
). Addressing this gap in the
literature, the purpose of this paper is to examine how older women make sense of and define natural and unnatural
aging within the context of their daily lives, specifically in relation to their own beauty routines. Similarly, a second
purpose of this paper is to integrate the ageism, technology, and sociology of the body literatures in order to develop
more nuanced understandings of ageism and women's experiences of aging.
3. Data and methods
Design
The data for this paper are drawn from in-depth interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70, all of whom, with the
exception of two individuals, were interviewed twice for an average of three hours and a total of 147 interview hours.
While 75% of the interviews were conducted by the primary investigator, Laura Hurd Clarke, 25% of the interviews
were conducted by three graduate students under careful supervision and following extensive training. All of the
interviewers were female and ranged in age from 25 to 55. The study is part one of two, with part two involving
interviews in the future with women aged 70 to 90. We selected this particular age range for part one in order to make
the range sufficiently narrow to permit meaningful analysis.
We digitally recorded and transcribed the interviews verbatim with the consent of each participant. To provide both
the researcher and the study participants an opportunity to reflect on the issues discussed in the initial interview as well
as time for the first interview to be transcribed and analyzed, there was a four to six week interval between the first and
second interviews. Our use of multiple interviews also allowed for validation of the data, in that a conscious attempt
was made to clarify emergent themes, meanings, and inconsistencies that were raised in previous interviews.
Prior to their enrolment in the study, sample participants were provided with a detailed letter of introduction that
indicated that the research was about women, aging, body image, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The interview
schedule consisted of open-ended questions that asked the women to tell the story of the ways in which their bodies had
changed over time, their feelings about the same, and their attitudes towards and experiences of anti-wrinkle creams,
cosmetics, hair dyes, cosmetic surgeries, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Initially, the interview schedule did not
ask sample participants about their definitions of natural aging and graceful aging. However, after conducting initial
interviews with 10 participants, it became apparent that the majority of the women used the concepts of graceful aging
and natural aging as they talked about their experiences of growing older. Thus, in subsequent interviews those women
who did not bring up the concepts themselves were directly asked about how they defined the terms, if at all, and
whether or not the terms held any meaning for them in their everyday lives and experiences. (Please see Appendix A for
the final version of the interview schedule). We used probes and clarifying questions to elucidate the complexity and
nature of the meanings that individuals attached to specific ideas and experiences so as not to
“
take for granted common
”
sense assumptions and understandings
(
Bogdan & Taylor, 1984
: 96).
Sample
The women in the non-probability sample were recruited using advertisements in fitness centres (14), seniors'
centres (2), newspapers (19), and snowball sampling methods (9). No compensation was given to participants, although
their parking expenses were reimbursed if they chose to be interviewed at the university campus. There was diversity
amongst the women in terms of their age, educational attainment, income, marital status, employment history and
status, and country of origin. However, most of the women were aged 50 to 60 (average age of 58), were relatively well
educated, and were born in Canada. At the same time, the women's use of beauty technology was diverse.
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
191
Data analysis
We analyzed the data using
Strauss and Corbin's (1998)
concept of open and axial coding. Thus, we began by
reading and rereading the transcripts to generate an initial code book of 33 codes. The current paper is based on an
analysis of the
code which was comprised of the following axial codes: natural as the un-intervened
body; the natural look; unnatural bodies; appearance orientation as natural; graceful aging; and resistance versus
acceptance of the un-intervened body. Our reading and re-reading of the codes and sub-codes culminated in the three
overarching themes that are presented in this paper, namely, defining and experiencing natural aging, natural aging
versus looking natural, and graceful aging: resisting versus accepting natural aging. Within each identified recurring
theme, further analysis was conducted to identify exceptions and to develop and refine the gradations of overall
patterns (
Miles & Huberman, 1994
). Areas of disjuncture in these overall patterns were used to refine emergent patterns
and to further clarify
‘
natural aging
’
“
the analytic hierarchy
”
(
Spencer, Ritchie, & O'Connor, 2003
: 213).
4. Findings
In this section, we discuss the meanings attributed to natural and unnatural aging as they emerged in the narratives of
the women we interviewed. We begin by reporting how the women defined natural aging. Then we examine the
women's understandings of the natural and unnatural look. Finally, we conclude with an elucidation of the tensions
between resisting and accepting the appearance realities of growing older.
Defining and experiencing natural aging
The women's definitions and experiences of natural aging are characterized by contradictions between their
attitudes and actual beauty work behaviours. To begin, 31 of the 44 women indicated that an unaltered body was a
natural body:
Natural aging would be just
letting aging become aging without
using any chemicals or other substances to change your appearance. (Aged 60, single, retired, used make-up)
…
aging without trying to alter what's happening
…
These women were diverse in terms of their ages, marital statuses, employment statuses, and use and non-use of
beauty work interventions. While most of the women subscribed to this definition of natural aging, the majority did not
actively embrace this perspective. Indeed, nearly all of the women were engaged in some form of appearance
intervention, including make-up (37), hair dye (27), anti-wrinkle creams (16), non-surgical cosmetic procedures (21)
and/or surgery (4) (please see
Table 1
). When pressed to clarify these tensions, the women tended to suggest that it was
the use of non-surgical and surgical procedures that distinguished those who adhered to a natural aging philosophy
from those individuals who were not aging naturally:
I think you can take care of your skin and use the creams and the cleansers. That's still natural for me because
you're caring for yourself. If you do any cuts, or do any Botox
—
anything like that, to me, is not natural. Like,
caring for yourself, your body, your exercise, your diet, your
what do you call that? Your ritual, your
cleansing, that is natural. (Aged 56, in common-law relationship, employed full-time, used anti-wrinkle
creams, hair dyes, and make-up, and had had chemical peels, photofacials, Artecol and Botox injections)
—
For the women who rejected the use of non-surgical and surgical cosmetic procedures, natural aging was perceived
to be a positive, liberating approach to later life:
A woman can just age naturally and just be accepting of the aging process and not think of it as being repulsive.
Just looking at how the skin changes and marvelling at the process of birth and middle life and then, the life
process, how it takes place. We should just marvel at
the wonder of it, and the mysteriousness of it. It's
completely beyond our control, but you know, it's this phenomena that we should be in wonder of
…
I really feel
that if we lived in a culture where older bodies were looked at as just natural things that we wouldn't be going
through this. (Aged 65, single, retired, did not use any beauty work interventions)
…
People get needles stuck in their face
but I don't think there is anything wrong with looking your age. Some
people look far older than what they are but I imagine that things happen in their life and that's why that is. But
…
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl hannaeva.xlx.pl
–
201
www.elsevier.com/locate/jaging
The body natural and the body unnatural: Beauty work and aging
Laura Hurd Clarke
⁎
, Meridith Griffin
School of Human Kinetics, The University of British Columbia, 156-1924 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2
Received 15 September 2006; received in revised form 30 October 2006; accepted 30 November 2006
Abstract
This paper examines older women's perceptions of natural and unnatural aging in relation to the use of beauty work
interventions, including anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dyes, cosmetic surgeries, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The
data are drawn from in-depth interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70. The women tended to define natural aging as a lack of
beauty work intervention and argued that this was a commendable goal. However, the majority engaged in beauty work and many
articulated the importance of producing a
‘
natural look
’
through their beauty practices. While some women argued for an
acceptance of the physical realities of growing older, others asserted that an aged appearance should be fought against using
whatever beauty work interventions were required and available. We discuss the meanings that the women attribute to natural and
unnatural aging in relation to the literature concerning ageism, the body, cosmetic surgery, nature, and technology.
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Ageism; Beauty work; Feminist theory; Women
1. Introduction
In this paper, we examine how the older woman defined and experienced aging in relation to the use of beauty work
interventions, including anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dyes, cosmetic surgeries, and non-surgical cosmetic
procedures (e.g., Botox injections, chemical peels, injectable fillers, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, and laser
skin treatments). Employing data from interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70, our findings suggest that the concept
of natural aging is both complex and taken for granted in the women's perceptions of beauty, beauty work, and aging.
While some women defined natural aging in terms of a lack of non-surgical and surgical cosmetic intervention, other
women suggested that natural aging entailed the use of anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dyes, and non-surgical and
surgical cosmetic procedures to establish and maintain a
‘
natural look
’
. The women distinguished between
‘
natural
’
and
aging and articulated positions of acceptance versus resistance of the physical realities of growing older.
We discuss the meanings that the women attributed to natural and unnatural aging in relation to the literature
concerning ageism, the body, cosmetic surgery, nature, and technology.
‘
graceful
’
⁎
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 604 822 4281; fax: +1 604 822 5884.
E-mail addresses:
(L. Hurd Clarke),
(M. Griffin).
0890-4065/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:
188
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
2. Literature review
Defining natural
The concept of natural has been a source of contentious debate as theorists posit and refute the binary opposition of
nature and culture (
Balsamo, 1996; Douglas, 1970; Suleiman, 1986
). One view of the natural body is that of a pre-cultural
body, or a pre-existing entity free of cultural pressures and influences (
Bloch & Bloch, 1980; Fraser, 2001; Laqueur &
Gallagher, 1987; Negrin, 2002
). According to this perspective, nature is a pure and original condition that is desirable,
necessitates no explanation, and defies historical change (
Fraser, 2001; Laqueur & Gallagher, 1987; Negrin, 2002
).
Alternatively, some theorists suggest that culture is privileged over nature, and human/patriarchal existence
constitutes a struggle against the primordial and diminishing forces of nature (
Balsamo, 1996; Fraser, 2001; Wei Leng,
1996
). Within this paradigm, women are perceived to be closer to nature than men and are, therefore, inferior (
Balsamo,
1996; Fraser, 2001; Haraway, 1991; Ortner, 1974
). Femininity is socially constructed as an incontrovertible category
against which culture is defined (
Balsamo, 1996; Fraser, 2001; Grosz, 1994; Haraway, 1991; Harding, 1986; Wei Leng,
1996
) and the gendered body is a
“
site for the contestation of social and individual power;
…
the locus of both
oppression and empowerment, simultaneously
(
Reischer & Koo, 2004
: 314). Similarly, references to the natural (or
pre-cultural) body tend to reproduce normative and dichotomous categories of sex and gender (
Fraser, 2001; Haraway,
1991
) thereby privileging what is male over what is female.
At the same time, many feminist and postmodern theorists deny the distinction between nature and culture. These
theorists argue instead that the
”
“
natural
”
body is socially constructed by biological and medical discourses about the
“
”
body and that these discourses are
(
Reisher & Koo, 2004
:
310;
Grosz, 1994; Negrin, 2002; Wei Leng, 1996
). Feminists contend that the oft-accepted nature/culture dichotomy
inaccurately presumes that what is
commonly viewed as impervious to cultural or social bias
“
”
is outside of culture and thus outside of power relations (
Brush, 1998;
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002
).
Grosz (1994)
elaborates, explaining that bodies:
natural
cannot be adequately understood as ahistorical, precultural, or natural objects in any simple way; they are not
only inscribed, marked, engraved, by social pressures external to them but are the products, the direct effects, of
the very social constitution of nature itself. (p. x)
In this way, the natural body is a misleading construct that fails to acknowledge that all bodies are inevitably shaped and
controlled by cultural discourses and norms.
Technological intervention and the unnatural body
Haraway (1991)
presents a postmodern and feminist conception of
the unnatural body, specifically the body as a cybernetic organism (cyborg) that is a hybrid being of the organic and the
technological. This amalgamation of technology and organism is iconic of our current material reality as evidenced by the
development of beauty work interventions (e.g., Botox injections or breast implants), medical innovations (e.g., pacemakers
or joint replacements), and pharmaceuticals, to name just a few.
Haraway (1991)
argues that the blending of the human with
nonhuman material represents the blurring of boundaries between limiting and historically pervasive dualisms: human/
machine, nature/culture, and male/female. The resulting lack of distinction sanctions a new understanding of the self as a
hybrid entity whose
In her rejection of the essentialist category of
“
natural,
”
(
Negrin,
2002
:29).
Haraway (1991)
thus regards technological intervention as a critical aspect of embodiment as the cyborg has the
potential to transcend normative gender dualisms and reshape power relations through the destabilization of the masculine
master narratives and epistemologies of science, religion, politics, and technology (
Balsamo, 1996
).
While the cyborg concept expounds a desirable objective of equality and freedom from the insidious and
constrictive dichotomies of male and female, critics have claimed that a cyborg world is unrealistically idealistic, or
utopic (
Balsamo, 1996; Doane, 1986; Gonzalez, 2000; Muri, 2003
).
Gonzalez (2000)
is sceptical of
Haraway's (1991)
utopic vision as she contends that the cyborg is limited by the human imagination: as people continue to be situated in
power relations and culture, the cyborgs that our imaginations produce are not necessarily more free of the social
constraints that limit humans and machines already (
Gonzalez, 2000
). Indeed, our limited technological imagination
can only produce cyborgs that are embedded in power relations and culture (
Balsamo, 1996; Gonzalez, 2000
). For this
“
contours are permeable
…
fluid and open to constant change rather than fixed and immutable
”
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
189
reason,
will not necessarily make class, racial, and gender oppression redundant, and
Haraway's
(1991)
imagined and idyllic
“
cyborgization
”
world is still demonstratively remote (
Balsamo, 1996
).
Similarly, theorists such as
Davis (1997, 2003)
,
Hayles (1999)
and
Muri (2003)
further critique postmodern body
culture theorizing as being an excessively
“
post-gendered
”
“
cerebral, esoteric, and
—
ironically
—
disembodied activity, which distances
us from individuals' everyday embodied experiences and practices
(
Davis, 2003
: 9). Indeed,
Davis (1997, 2003)
contends that a utopian approach to the synthesis of the body with technology results in ambivalence towards the
material body and the privileging of the body as metaphor thus leaving out the sentient and embodied human subject.
”
Body work, feminist theory and ageism
Focusing attention on the lived experience of embodied females and the notion of the natural body versus various
interventions, feminist academic discussion regarding women and beauty work has covered a wide range of practices,
such as hair (
Furman, 1997; Gimlin, 2002; Weitz, 2001
), make-up (
Beausoleil, 1994
), fashion (
Jeffreys, 2005
), diet,
exercise, and eating disorders (
Bordo, 2003; Brumberg, 1997; Gimlin, 2002; Hesse-Biber, 1996
), and surgical and non-
surgical cosmetic procedures (
Davis, 1995, 2003; Hurd Clarke, Repta, & Griffin, in press; Morgan, 1991
). Within this
literature, theorists present conflicting interpretations, arguing that women who engage in beauty work practices are
either victims of false consciousness or individuals who freely exercise choice and agency (
Davis, 1995, 2003; Gagne
& McGaughey, 2002
). The false consciousness, or determinist, perspective suggests that although women are never
“
in an
attempt to achieve standards of beauty constructed within an oppressively patriarchal and ageist society (
Bartky, 1998;
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002; Morgan, 1991; Negrin, 2002
). Thus, women are effectively submitting to objectification
in a social realm where deficient femininity entails a failure to achieve and maintain a young, slim, toned, and wrinkle-
free body (
Bordo, 2003; Davis, 1991; Hurd, 2000
). However, women's submission to cultural norms of feminine
beauty necessitates an ongoing struggle against the physical realities of growing older and the subjugation of the
natural body. According to proponents of the determinist or false consciousness perspective, the natural body that has
not submitted to ageist and patriarchal definitions of beauty and femininity and corresponding body work interventions
is superior or, at the very least, less constrained by ageism and sexist oppression.
Opposing the false consciousness perspective is the argument that women are instead empowered and judicious
decision makers, and that they perform even extreme beauty-related practices (e.g., invasive cosmetic surgery) through
free choice (
Davis, 1995; Gagne & McGaughey, 2002; Negrin, 2002
). In this view, women are not just submitting to
the
marched off to electrolysis at gunpoint
”
(
Bartky, 1998
: 37), they participate in these practices of
“
femininity
”
“
dictates of patriarchal ideology but
…
actively engaging with it, knowledgeable of its drawbacks as well as its
benefits
(
Negrin, 2002
: 21;
Davis, 1995
).
Davis (1995, 2003)
further contends that determinist arguments subvert the
knowledge of the female subject. She calls for recognition of the possibilities for agency and empowerment in the
decision to undergo cosmetic surgery, a decision she sees as an opportunity for women to exercise control and to raise
social currency (in a patriarchal and ageist culture) on their own terms. Women act with agency and seek out cosmetic
procedures, then, with an understanding of the natural body as a passive material that must necessarily be built upon,
overcome or adapted (
Fraser, 2001
) in a social context that emphasizes youthfulness and physical attractiveness.
Gagne and McGaughey (2002: 817)
articulate a problem with the discourse of free choice, namely that it entails an
”
“
uncritical adoption of hegemonic ideas of what is normal or natural
…
[a] premise [that] is problematic because it
presumes that
. A common argument within the
agency perspective is that the goal of cosmetic surgery and other cosmetic procedures is to look normal or natural
(
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002; Wilson & Laennec, 1997
), and thus better. As exemplified by the surgeons and women
that
Dull and West (1991)
interviewed, proponents of this perspective further contend that the pursuit of beauty is
normative and natural for women. However, critics assert that this appearance-focused mentality is ultimately
determinist, as all
‘
natural
’
is outside of culture and hence outside of power relations
”
“
”
norms are informed by the ageist and patriarchal power structures that are still
dominant in contemporary culture (
Bartky, 1998; Dull & West, 1991; Gagne & McGaughey, 2002
).
Gagne and
McGaughey (2002)
maintain that both the false consciousness (determinist) and free will (agency) perspectives treat
the body as a passive object. They conclude by asserting that there is a need for a synthesized theoretical perspective
that accounts for the subjectivity that has been absent
naturalistic
in the opposed descriptions of women's agency and
subordination in the beauty work arena.
In summary, within the debates surrounding the definitions of nature and culture, the body is a site of ongoing
struggle. According to some theorists, the natural body is one that is unmodified by technological interventions such
190
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
as anti-wrinkle creams, hair dyes, make-up, cosmetic surgery, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Thus, the
natural, aging body exists outside of extant beauty norms and wrinkles, sagging skin, and gray hair are both permitted
and expected. In contrast, other theorists contend that technological youth and beauty enhancing practices are
becoming increasingly normalized and are a natural requirement of feminine body work. Underlying this perspective
are sexist and ageist norms that compel women to subjugate the natural body and resist the physical realities
of growing older. In this way, the natural, aged body is a failed body that must be rejected, camouflaged, and
technologically altered.
Although there has been extensive theorizing about the natural and unnatural body, this literature has not been
adequately complemented with substantive research (
Gagne & McGaughey, 2002
). Addressing this gap in the
literature, the purpose of this paper is to examine how older women make sense of and define natural and unnatural
aging within the context of their daily lives, specifically in relation to their own beauty routines. Similarly, a second
purpose of this paper is to integrate the ageism, technology, and sociology of the body literatures in order to develop
more nuanced understandings of ageism and women's experiences of aging.
3. Data and methods
Design
The data for this paper are drawn from in-depth interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70, all of whom, with the
exception of two individuals, were interviewed twice for an average of three hours and a total of 147 interview hours.
While 75% of the interviews were conducted by the primary investigator, Laura Hurd Clarke, 25% of the interviews
were conducted by three graduate students under careful supervision and following extensive training. All of the
interviewers were female and ranged in age from 25 to 55. The study is part one of two, with part two involving
interviews in the future with women aged 70 to 90. We selected this particular age range for part one in order to make
the range sufficiently narrow to permit meaningful analysis.
We digitally recorded and transcribed the interviews verbatim with the consent of each participant. To provide both
the researcher and the study participants an opportunity to reflect on the issues discussed in the initial interview as well
as time for the first interview to be transcribed and analyzed, there was a four to six week interval between the first and
second interviews. Our use of multiple interviews also allowed for validation of the data, in that a conscious attempt
was made to clarify emergent themes, meanings, and inconsistencies that were raised in previous interviews.
Prior to their enrolment in the study, sample participants were provided with a detailed letter of introduction that
indicated that the research was about women, aging, body image, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The interview
schedule consisted of open-ended questions that asked the women to tell the story of the ways in which their bodies had
changed over time, their feelings about the same, and their attitudes towards and experiences of anti-wrinkle creams,
cosmetics, hair dyes, cosmetic surgeries, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Initially, the interview schedule did not
ask sample participants about their definitions of natural aging and graceful aging. However, after conducting initial
interviews with 10 participants, it became apparent that the majority of the women used the concepts of graceful aging
and natural aging as they talked about their experiences of growing older. Thus, in subsequent interviews those women
who did not bring up the concepts themselves were directly asked about how they defined the terms, if at all, and
whether or not the terms held any meaning for them in their everyday lives and experiences. (Please see Appendix A for
the final version of the interview schedule). We used probes and clarifying questions to elucidate the complexity and
nature of the meanings that individuals attached to specific ideas and experiences so as not to
“
take for granted common
”
sense assumptions and understandings
(
Bogdan & Taylor, 1984
: 96).
Sample
The women in the non-probability sample were recruited using advertisements in fitness centres (14), seniors'
centres (2), newspapers (19), and snowball sampling methods (9). No compensation was given to participants, although
their parking expenses were reimbursed if they chose to be interviewed at the university campus. There was diversity
amongst the women in terms of their age, educational attainment, income, marital status, employment history and
status, and country of origin. However, most of the women were aged 50 to 60 (average age of 58), were relatively well
educated, and were born in Canada. At the same time, the women's use of beauty technology was diverse.
L. Hurd Clarke, M. Griffin / Journal of Aging Studies 21 (2007) 187
–
201
191
Data analysis
We analyzed the data using
Strauss and Corbin's (1998)
concept of open and axial coding. Thus, we began by
reading and rereading the transcripts to generate an initial code book of 33 codes. The current paper is based on an
analysis of the
code which was comprised of the following axial codes: natural as the un-intervened
body; the natural look; unnatural bodies; appearance orientation as natural; graceful aging; and resistance versus
acceptance of the un-intervened body. Our reading and re-reading of the codes and sub-codes culminated in the three
overarching themes that are presented in this paper, namely, defining and experiencing natural aging, natural aging
versus looking natural, and graceful aging: resisting versus accepting natural aging. Within each identified recurring
theme, further analysis was conducted to identify exceptions and to develop and refine the gradations of overall
patterns (
Miles & Huberman, 1994
). Areas of disjuncture in these overall patterns were used to refine emergent patterns
and to further clarify
‘
natural aging
’
“
the analytic hierarchy
”
(
Spencer, Ritchie, & O'Connor, 2003
: 213).
4. Findings
In this section, we discuss the meanings attributed to natural and unnatural aging as they emerged in the narratives of
the women we interviewed. We begin by reporting how the women defined natural aging. Then we examine the
women's understandings of the natural and unnatural look. Finally, we conclude with an elucidation of the tensions
between resisting and accepting the appearance realities of growing older.
Defining and experiencing natural aging
The women's definitions and experiences of natural aging are characterized by contradictions between their
attitudes and actual beauty work behaviours. To begin, 31 of the 44 women indicated that an unaltered body was a
natural body:
Natural aging would be just
letting aging become aging without
using any chemicals or other substances to change your appearance. (Aged 60, single, retired, used make-up)
…
aging without trying to alter what's happening
…
These women were diverse in terms of their ages, marital statuses, employment statuses, and use and non-use of
beauty work interventions. While most of the women subscribed to this definition of natural aging, the majority did not
actively embrace this perspective. Indeed, nearly all of the women were engaged in some form of appearance
intervention, including make-up (37), hair dye (27), anti-wrinkle creams (16), non-surgical cosmetic procedures (21)
and/or surgery (4) (please see
Table 1
). When pressed to clarify these tensions, the women tended to suggest that it was
the use of non-surgical and surgical procedures that distinguished those who adhered to a natural aging philosophy
from those individuals who were not aging naturally:
I think you can take care of your skin and use the creams and the cleansers. That's still natural for me because
you're caring for yourself. If you do any cuts, or do any Botox
—
anything like that, to me, is not natural. Like,
caring for yourself, your body, your exercise, your diet, your
what do you call that? Your ritual, your
cleansing, that is natural. (Aged 56, in common-law relationship, employed full-time, used anti-wrinkle
creams, hair dyes, and make-up, and had had chemical peels, photofacials, Artecol and Botox injections)
—
For the women who rejected the use of non-surgical and surgical cosmetic procedures, natural aging was perceived
to be a positive, liberating approach to later life:
A woman can just age naturally and just be accepting of the aging process and not think of it as being repulsive.
Just looking at how the skin changes and marvelling at the process of birth and middle life and then, the life
process, how it takes place. We should just marvel at
the wonder of it, and the mysteriousness of it. It's
completely beyond our control, but you know, it's this phenomena that we should be in wonder of
…
I really feel
that if we lived in a culture where older bodies were looked at as just natural things that we wouldn't be going
through this. (Aged 65, single, retired, did not use any beauty work interventions)
…
People get needles stuck in their face
but I don't think there is anything wrong with looking your age. Some
people look far older than what they are but I imagine that things happen in their life and that's why that is. But
…