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

This article explores the embodied practices of anti-ageing among middle-aged and older Chinese women (damas) who engage in plaza dancing (guangchangwu) as a leisure activity in urban areas. Drawing upon data collected from three months of participant observation in three different plaza dance group...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ageing and society 2022-08, Vol.42 (8), p.1844-1862
Main Author: Sheng, Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aesthetics
Aging
Asian cultural groups
Beauty
Cultural Revolution
Dance
Dancers
Dancing
Economic reform
Femininity
Gender
Leisure
Middle age
Older people
Older women
Public spaces
Recreation
Social norms
Sociocultural factors
Taoism
Urban areas
Women
Womens health
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Summary:This article explores the embodied practices of anti-ageing among middle-aged and older Chinese women (damas) who engage in plaza dancing (guangchangwu) as a leisure activity in urban areas. Drawing upon data collected from three months of participant observation in three different plaza dance groups and 29 semi-structured interviews with older Chinese women, I first investigate my participants’ experiences of plaza dancing in terms of health-keeping and bodily maintenance. I then analyse their usage of cosmetic products at a time when the beauty economy is booming during the post-Mao era. These female plaza dancers’ bodily regulation and ‘beautification’ indicate not only older women's strategies and struggles in the face of the double standard of ageing, but also a change in the age hierarchy under the transforming socio-cultural landscape of urban China, which is generating new social norms.
ISSN:0144-686X
1469-1779
DOI:10.1017/S0144686X20001774