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Final Essay Women and aging dox-for the winter term 2020

Final essay for the Women and Aging class. All the references are at t...
Course

Women and Aging (WGSX-2357EL)

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Students shared 18 documents in this course
Academic year: 2019/2020
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Laurentian University

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New Generation, Same Problems

Aging is part of the cycle of life; everyone reaches that point in their lifetime. Different generations go through different processes or events, but in general, young women and future generations of older women will face the same problems that so many women face today. Some struggle, some strive, but when it comes to women, aging is an issue. Many have pointed out that women experience a different process compared to men when getting older (Russel, 129). Even the upcoming generation could face the same kind of issues such as the need to look a certain way, the gender difference in health, and the gender difference with life longevity.

The generation of today seems to think you need to look a certain way to attract others, especially in many lesbian communities since there are issues when it comes to ageism. Some say the activities and events were made to please younger women, which makes things a little difficult for more mature women. This could make them feel patronized since they get offered too much help (which singles them out). On top of that, there is the feeling of being invisible. Being part of this community gives them the opportunity to meet others, but they need to suffer through the exclusion, since they don’t look like all the younger girls (Avetett, et al. 8). This discrimination brings women to try and look a certain way which is an issue for the older generation, but as well for the present generation and will continue happening as they grow older. Many try to cir- cumvent the disadvantage they face by modifying their appearance. This is why they choose to engage in beauty work so these women could lower their chances of getting negative comments since it would affect their self-esteem. This is an issue because the perception of their partner’s ideal female body shape or size could influence their views and experiences of their own appearance. In general, the more satisfied a woman be- lieves her partner to be, the more satisfied she’ll be with herself (Clark 655-656). That being said, with all the modification(s) they need to do to stay a certain way it would be like wearing a mask. They wear it to betray something they are not trying to cover any ‘flaws’ to society. They make different lifestyles and plastic surgeries seem so normal to the day-to-day basis that no wonder so many women feel the pressure to look perfect (Markson 139). The new ‘real’ is looking absolutely nothing like yourself. Take a look at social media, such as instagram, so many women modified their pictures or took hours posing to flex their better qualities to the public. Growing up in this mindset is going to make them feel exactly how our older generation does presently. The feeling of being discriminated against on how they look while they try so hard to fit in.

When it comes to health-related issues, there are gender differences for not only the elderly people but also when it comes to the younger ones, which will continue into their future. During their lifetime, women experience a higher risk of illness compared to

men, which makes them one of the biggest users of health services, such as medication and doctor consultations. A women’s health includes emotions, social, cultural, spiritual and physical well-being which is determined by social, political and economic context as well as her biology. This is why it makes them the highest health care users. A woman is more likely to have health concerns when getting food, more likely users of vitamins and less likely to be overweight since nutrition seems to be more important to women. They also use more health services in a lifetime since they have to worry about birth control, pregnancy, menstruation and menopause. Not only that, a woman experiences a higher level of stress compared to men. In the long term, women seem to be more resilient (Module 5, Gender Difference in Health). Getting old isn’t easy, especially since they are still experiencing new things with their body, such as menopause and every woman goes through it differently. Some can get it at an early stage due to ovarian failure while others get it around the age of 51 (Module 5, What is Menopause?). There are no specifics when it comes to the female body which is why it’s understandable they seek help. No matter the age women tend to see a doctor or health practitioner as soon as symptoms appear in comparison to men who wait or never go. Growing up a woman will still have to face the same issues as the previous women did growing up. Women's biol- ogy will never change. Which is why there should be more research done on older women. There has been early research done on aging, but with male subjects and by male researchers. The information from this search was assumed to apply to women even with the obvious gender differences. In other words, there is hardly any informa- tion on the processes of aging in women. With the lack of information there most cer- tainly will have the same kind of issues for the generations to come (Russell 129).

That being said, the women's longevity will probably not change too much. In other words, if things continue the way they are, women will continue living longer than men. Habits play a big part in why women live longer. On average, men are more likely to drink excessively, smoke or are overweight. As previously mentioned, men are also less likely to get any medical help in early stages of life, which means their disease or illness can get progressively worse. Overall, men are more likely to take life threatening choices, but other than behavioral there are also biological reasons too. Women don’t have as much testosterone as men do, which can lead to troubles that could shorten their life. There is much research done that proves a correlation between testosterone and risky behaviors. This hormone has been proven to decrease immune function and increase risks of cardiovascular diseases. When it comes to women, they have a hor- mone called estrogen that appears to have an antioxidant role. This can prevent the kind of DNA damage that leads to disease (Bleu, 2019). Women outlive men in poor and unequal countries, even with the recent increase in male expectancy. In Canada 1999, 51% of babies born were male, but throughout the years because of the longevity of women this gap changed. Men’s expectancy went from dying around the age of 69 to a life expectancy of 76 in a matter of 30 years. For women, in the same

Averett, Paige, et al. “Older Lesbian Experiences of Homophobia and Ageism.” Journal of Social Service Research , vol. 39, no. 1, 2013, pp. 3-

Bleu, Laura. Why do women live longer than men. TIME, February 27 2019, https://go.- gale.com/ps/infomark? source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=subd78095&prodId=AONE&tabID=T 2&action=interpret&docId=A144563892&type=retrieve&contentSet=IAC- Documents&version=1.

Clarke, Laura Hurd. “Visible and Invisible Ageing: Beauty Work as a Response to Ageism.” Ageing and Society , vol. 28, no. 5, 2008, pp-674.

Kechnie, Margeret. Women and Aging, Module 4: Menopause, Part II: What is Menopause?

Kechnie, Margeret. Women and Aging, Module 5: Aging and Women’s Health, Part I: Gender Difference in Health

Markson, Elizabeth W., and Carol A. Taylor. “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” Ageing and Society, vol. 20, no. 2, 200. Pp. 137-160.

Philips, Susan. Risky business: explaining the gender gap in longevity. Gale Academic Onefile, The Lancet Publishing Group, March 1st 2006, time/5538099/why- do-women-live-longer-than-men/

Russel, Cherry. What Do Older Women and Men Want?: Gender Differences in the ‘Lived Experience’ of Ageing. University of Sydney, March 1st 2017, https://journal- s.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10/

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Final Essay Women and aging dox-for the winter term 2020

Course: Women and Aging (WGSX-2357EL)

18 Documents
Students shared 18 documents in this course

University: Laurentian University

Was this document helpful?
New Generation, Same Problems
Aging is part of the cycle of life; everyone reaches that point in their lifetime. Different
generations go through different processes or events, but in general, young women and
future generations of older women will face the same problems that so many women
face today. Some struggle, some strive, but when it comes to women, aging is an issue.
Many have pointed out that women experience a different process compared to men
when getting older (Russel, 129). Even the upcoming generation could face the same
kind of issues such as the need to look a certain way, the gender difference in health,
and the gender difference with life longevity.
The generation of today seems to think you need to look a certain way to attract
others, especially in many lesbian communities since there are issues when it comes to
ageism. Some say the activities and events were made to please younger women,
which makes things a little difficult for more mature women. This could make them feel
patronized since they get offered too much help (which singles them out). On top of
that, there is the feeling of being invisible. Being part of this community gives them the
opportunity to meet others, but they need to suffer through the exclusion, since they
don’t look like all the younger girls (Avetett, et al. 8). This discrimination brings women
to try and look a certain way which is an issue for the older generation, but as well for
the present generation and will continue happening as they grow older. Many try to cir-
cumvent the disadvantage they face by modifying their appearance. This is why they
choose to engage in beauty work so these women could lower their chances of getting
negative comments since it would affect their self-esteem. This is an issue because the
perception of their partner’s ideal female body shape or size could influence their views
and experiences of their own appearance. In general, the more satisfied a woman be-
lieves her partner to be, the more satisfied she’ll be with herself (Clark 655-656). That
being said, with all the modification(s) they need to do to stay a certain way it would be
like wearing a mask. They wear it to betray something they are not trying to cover any
‘flaws’ to society. They make different lifestyles and plastic surgeries seem so normal to
the day-to-day basis that no wonder so many women feel the pressure to look perfect
(Markson 139). The new ‘real’ is looking absolutely nothing like yourself. Take a look at
social media, such as instagram, so many women modified their pictures or took hours
posing to flex their better qualities to the public. Growing up in this mindset is going to
make them feel exactly how our older generation does presently. The feeling of being
discriminated against on how they look while they try so hard to fit in.
When it comes to health-related issues, there are gender differences for not only
the elderly people but also when it comes to the younger ones, which will continue into
their future. During their lifetime, women experience a higher risk of illness compared to

Students also viewed

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