ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how older men’s and women’s recognition, representation and resources are expressed through and limited by their bodies, specifically the physical realities of growing older. I examine how ageism and healthism combine with masculinity and femininity ideals to devalue older bodies in gendered ways. I explicate how cultural assumptions and media messages about older bodies reproduce ageist, healthist, and sexist norms even as they also establish an unattainable corporeal ideal. I further discuss how older individuals internalise the ways that older bodies are socially constructed to the detriment of their body image and everyday embodied experience. Throughout the chapter I draw upon studies, where available, to illuminate how race and sexuality influence gendered access to recognition, representation and resources in later life. Finally, I offer suggestions for future avenues of scholarship.
