1. + Body politics & Media Messages of Middle Age Brittany Garner

2. + Quick Write What fears do you have about being middle aged? If you are middle aged, what is better than you expected? Give me 5 words you associate with being middle aged. http://worditout.com/word-cloud/make-a-new-one

3. + Body politics- definition The Beauty Myth Aging Anxiety- definition

4. + Aging Anxiety & Plastic Surgery sample of 108 women, aged between 35 and 55 years, completed questionnaire measures of body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, aging anxiety, media exposure (television and magazine), and attitudes toward cosmetic surgery (delineated in terms of general attitudes, social motivations, and actual consideration). Body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, aging anxiety, and both media variables predicted some facet of attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. Specifically, appearance investment, aging anxiety, and television exposure were unique predictors of endorsement of social motivations for cosmetic surgery, whereas body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, and television exposure were unique predictors of actual consideration of cosmetic surgery. Regression analysis revealed that the effects of media on cosmetic surgery attitudes were primarily direct. We concluded that there are multiple influences on attitudes toward cosmetic surgery for women of middle age.

5. + What choice do we give middle aged people in the process of aging? Do you think it is becoming the norm to want plastic surgery to deal with signs of aging? Why do we judge people for looking old but also judge them for having work done? What does this mean for how we as a culture view middle aged people?

6. + Aging Anxiety & Plastic Surgery Greater aging anxiety and higher importance of appearance were related to greater likelihood of purchasing anti-aging products. Women also described an interesting paradox whereby they report using these products while remaining critical of media messages and embracing the idea of natural aging.

7. + Aging Anxiety & Plastic Surgery despite having undertaken action to improve their appearance through surgical means at some point in their adult lives, cosmetic surgery recipients did not inevitably feel younger than their years, or better about themselves, compared to those who have not pursued surgery. Study limitations and implications are outlined, and given that cosmetic surgery may become normative practice in future cohorts of aging adults, it concludes with a call for nationally-representative studies using matched-control group research designs typical of public health inquiry more generally.

8. + Aging Anxiety & Plastic Surgery As a normative practice (source)

9. + Aging Anxiety & Plastic Surgery http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OEE0u2Mav4

10. + Discuss! What language stuck out to you in this video? Do you feel plastic surgery has more effect on women? Why? How do you think plastic surgery ties in with age? Middle ages in particular? What role do you think media plays? Can you think of any role models for middle aged women who do not receive plastic surgery?

11. + Aging Anxiety & Viagra Viagra, widely used to treat ED, impacts on both individuals and interpersonal relationships yet social and psychological aspects of treatment are absent from the majority of research on the drug. The advent of Viagra has seen diminishing sexual capacities once linked with normal ageing now viewed as dysfunctional, with possible alternative psychological factors largely ignored Sildenafil was prescribed by more than 750,000 physicians to more than 23 million men worldwide.

12. + Aging Anxiety & Viagra Quality of life measures in Viagra science and how they, perhaps intentionally, created a moral burden on men with erection problems Viagra promotional material--to examine the ways in which cultural discourses surrounding Viagra maintain dominant cultural assumptions about men and their bodies.

13. + Aging Anxiety & Viagra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APLdlTRkkik

14. + Discuss! Do you see similarities between aging anxiety in women and men? If so, what? What cultural messages are being sent in the Viagra and Cialis commercials? What do you think the emphasis on ED says about ways we view manhood in middle aged people? How does sexuality play into middle ages for all genders? Do you think it is different across sexual orientations? Races? Class lines?

15. + Thank you! References