Prelims

Half Title Page

BABY BOOMERS, AGE, AND BEAUTY

Endorsement

“This book offers an important contribution to the discussion on our approach to age and ageing. The author makes us understand that it is both the universal and the particular that determine how we behold beauty, and how these perceptions are generationally shaped.”

Prof Dr Roberta Maierhofer, University of Graz, Austria

“Fluently written and sensitive to context, nuance, and the humor of her aging respondents, Woodspring’s book gives a lively tour of our disparate responses to the common urge to remain forever young, in a generation that lives longer than any before. She shows how masculinities, femininities, and gendered ideals of beauty shift with new divisions of labor, as age brings greater self-awareness of the limits of roles of the past. This book weaves into that analysis a rich array of insights from studies of art, taste, psychology, history, sociology, and feminist scholarship from many disciplines.”

Prof Neal M. King, Virginia Tech, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, USA

“In the context of an ageing population, Woodspring reminds us of the tyranny of the omnipresent stereotypes of what successful (ie, glamourous) ageing looks like. This book is a timely reminder that the perspectives of older people are also of crucial value to current debates in this field and should no longer be ignored.”

Emerita Prof Nichola Rumsey OBE, UWE, UK

Title Page

BABY BOOMERS, AGE, AND BEAUTY

BY

NAOMI WOODSPRING

University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2018

© 2018 Naomi Woodspring.

Published under exclusive licence.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78754-236-5 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78743-824-8 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78743-990-0 (Epub)

Dedication

In memory of Nick Shipton

You taught me so much about beauty

List of Images

About the Author

Naomi Woodspring is a Visiting Research Fellow, University of the West of England, UK. Prior to returning to university as a late life learner, she had her own consulting firm working with non-profit agencies and for-profit businesses seeking sustainable solutions to organizational and community challenges. She has also worked as a psychotherapist in a wide variety of settings from managing a community prison project to Native American communities.

Acknowledgments

The project would not have materialized without the support of friends, family, and colleagues. There are so many people who have had a hand in making this book happen – listening, questioning, pointing me in directions I would never have thought of and more. I want to thank Robin Means for being there at a very difficult time – this book would not have happened without his encouragement and help. Thank you, Jane Powell for stepping in and championing the work, Margaret Page for being a good and true friend, smart, critical, and just the best, Barbara Walzer, for of all the reminders, our shared history/friendship, and proof reading. Big thanks to Jessa Fairbrother for the images, photography inspiration, and for giving me some central guiding thoughts as I considered cameras, photographs, and representation. I am indebted to Josephine Dolan for questioning and critiquing, and fearlessly holding a vision of another kind of world. I am deeply grateful to the people who stepped forward to be interviewed and who gave so generously of their time and thoughts.

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Image 1.

Roman Egyptian funerary portrait.