The Other Within Us: Feminist Explorations Of Women And Aging / Edition 1

by Marilyn Pearsall

Overview

Feminist women bequeath to us a powerful critique of our society's obsession with beauty and impossible body ideals. Having refused makeup, high heels, and short skirts in their youth, these women are now entering the most stigmatized stage in a woman's life?old age. As she becomes the ?older woman,? the feminist's rejection of beauty standards and her ability to locate self-worth is being challenged.How will feminists respond to the issues raised in this phase of their lives? By confronting the issues unique to older women in our culture and society, these authors redress the neglect and isolation experienced within contemporary feminism and gerontology.Ultimately, the goal of the book is to inspire the aging woman to more easily embrace the ?older other? within her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813381633
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/14/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1360L (what's this?)

About the Author

Marilyn Pearsall teaches philosophy and women's studies at the University of Puget Sound and is a research associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research centre.

Table of Contents

Introduction — Situating — The Double Standard of Aging — Portnoy’s Mother’s Complaints — The Plight of Older Black Women — The Feminization of Poverty Among the Elderly — Older Women in the City — Problematizing — Friends or Foes — Heresy in the Female Body — Gender, Race, and Class — The View from Over the Hill — Adult Daughters and Care for the Elderly — What Setting Limits May Mean — Representing — Sunset Boulevard — Remembering Our Foremothers — Visible Difference — Time Will Tell — Privileging — Toward Another Dimension … — Indian Summer — In the Heat of Shadow — Mirror of Strength — The Space Crone — Serenity and Power

Editorial Reviews

Pearsall (Women and Values: Readings in Recent Feminist Philosophy) has edited this collection of scholarly pieces about female aging because of her conviction that contemporary feminist theorists have neglected this issue. Several carefully researched essays address aging within a sociological context, such as elderly women in urban areas (Elizabeth W. Markson, Bess B. Hess), older African American women (Jacquelyne Johnson Jackson) and the impact of race and class on aging (Paula L. Dressel). In a provocative piece concerning the prejudicial treatment older women in lesbian communities receive from such groups' younger members, the late Baba Copper critiques Susan Sontag's essay "The Double Standard of Aging" (reprinted here) as both hetero-sexist and ageist. Germaine Greer contributes her interesting though occasionally rambling thoughts on the liberating aspects of getting older, and Joanna Frueh discusses the problems of aging female artists. This collection will be of interest primarily to those working in women's studies or gerontology. (Apr.)

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