“Zašto bih izgledala mlađe?”: žene, starenje i svakodnevne prakse upravljanja tijelom
“Why Should I Look Younger?”: Women, Ageing and Body Management in Everyday Life

Summary/Abstract: The human body is immersed in a network of complex norms, expectations, rules and performances. It is a kind of “a medium of culture” (Bordo 2003: 165) and the intersection of the individual and the social (Gimlin 2002). The body is also a means of personal expression in everyday life. Gender is one of the crucial categories for understanding the body. Analyzing the body from the gender perspective shows how the gendered body is created and presented. There is a discrepancy between the second-wave and third-wave feminist interpretations of the various beautifying practices and the production of the normative feminine body. In this article, the category of gender is intertwined with the category of age, focusing on the analysis of experiences and interpretations of their own bodies from the position of older women. Interviews were conducted with older women, residents of four homes for older persons in Zagreb and Split. The analysis focuses on the self-perception of their own body and physical appearance, everyday practices of maintaining body functionalities, everyday practices of beautification and interpretations of recent dominant beauty standards.

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