‘So long as there's hair there still’: displaying lack of interest as a practice for negotiating social norms of appearance for older women

Abstract

Although women's appearance is theorised as being central to their identity and social currency, much prior research has argued that as women age, other aspects of their lives assume a higher priority than their appearance. Nevertheless, they continue to invest time in appearance practices. In undertaking these various appearance practices, older women have to negotiate a range of conflicting social norms of age-appropriate appearance, such as managing the balancing act between ‘letting themselves go’, on the one hand, and looking like ‘mutton dressed as lamb’, on the other. This paper contributes to the growing literature on older women's attitudes to their appearance and related practices. Drawing on data from a two-year research project in a hair-salon catering primarily for older clients, I examine the question of the importance to women of their appearance through the lens of their hair-care practices. Focusing on a group of nine female clients aged 55–90 in a small hair-salon in southern England, I show how participants in their talk and embodied presentation display shifting orientations of investment/interest (or lack of interest) in their appearance. Comparing participants’ appearance practices, with their talk in two sequential environments in which a possible interest in appearance is made particularly salient, I argue that these shifting orientations reveal participants’ subtle negotiation of competing social norms of appearance for older women.

Silencing the sexual self and relational and individual well-being in later life: a gendered analysis of North versus South of Europe

“…cultures and may be less of a cultural nature. The finding ran counter to our expectations and could reflect a weakened influence of social norms in later life (Elliott O'Dare et al, 2019;Heinrichsmeier, 2019). Older adults may feel less constrained by culture-specific social norms and expectations that earlier in life regulated and restricted their attitudes and behavior.…”

Embodying ageing: middle-aged and older women's bodily fitness and aesthetics in urban China

“…If you have grey hair, you may look several years older than the other dancers. (Dong Fang,56) As going grey has been depicted as 'a significant threshold' of older age and 'the sign of age' in western societies (Bytheway, 2005;Ward, 2015;Lodge et al, 2016;Heinrichsmeier, 2019), I can assume that the grey hair of older people may be more easily visually identified than the signs of ageing on their faces. In today's China, when grey hair becomes a major signifier of the xingxiang (image) of being old, this means that, while for some damas wearing make-up might be merely a choice and individual pleasure, colouring their hair becomes an imperative in order to maintain a younger image.…”

“…In analysing the ‘double standard of ageing’, Arber and Ginn (1991) suggest that it is more than a matter of aesthetics but rather a typical part of an oppressive system that women's value tends to be sexualised, while the marks of ageing in men are not considered to be as significant as those in women. As female sexual attractiveness continues to reside in youth, under such an unequal structure where the loss of youthful appearance indicates incapacity and brings social devaluation, women's status remains vulnerable (Arber and Ginn, 1991; Twigg, 2004; Heinrichsmeier, 2019). There is a traditional Chinese saying that ‘when entering their thirties, men are like flowers but women are like bean dregs ( nanren sanshi yizhihua, nüren sanshi doufuzha )’.…”

“…Some damas, like Cao, had to modify their hair colour to make sure that their ability to work was not undervalued owing to the visible signs of ageing. Unlike these older Chinese women's efforts, recent findings show that, although negotiating with different age-related norms, many older women in western societies are becoming tired of bodily modifications and there is a rejection of the youthful norms of beauty (Dumas et al , 2005; Ward and Holland, 2011; Heinrichsmeier, 2019). As my participants’ past indifference to their appearance was largely owing to Maoist legacy, whether the current or future cohort of older Chinese women may embrace a more inclusive concept of ageing needs further investigation.…”

Under the radar: older women YouTubers and algorithmic influence

“…The older women YouTubers that I observed got a markedly less antagonistic response than that reported by younger women YouTubers. They received overwhelmingly positive comments and almost none that were critical of their ageing appearance, or their "inappropriate" behaviour, as they may have in other public spaces (Rachel Heinrichsmeier 2019). Even videos discussing enjoying sex attracted few hostile, ridiculing, or sexually explicit comments.…”