Title: ‘Do this to live longer’: A study of health and fitness magazine representations of older women
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Laura Hurd
Committee members: Dr. Brian Wilson, Dr. Alison Phinney
Defence Chair: Dr. Erica Bennett
Abstract: In this study, I investigated how aging and older women were represented in health and fitness magazine advertisements and stories. Magazines reflect social norms and influence everyday interactions (Conlin & Bissel, 2014; Devi & Samanta, 2019). For example, the textual and visual magazine portrayals of later life often teach us how to think about aging as well as the way we see ourselves as being old (Loos & Ivan, 2018). Aging portrayals frequently suggest ways in which older adults can and should engage with consumer culture in order to maintain their health and avoid illness and disability in later life (Loos & Ivan, 2018; Mason et al., 2010). These portrayals stem from contemporary cultural ideals that emphasize good health and the avoidance of disease and disability in later life (Higgs et al., 2009). To date, relatively few studies have examined the magazine representations of older adults (Devi & Samanta, 2019). The studies that have explored magazine representations of aging have only looked at a limited range of lifestyle magazines, namely, celebrity and fashion magazines (see, for example, Hurd Clarke et al., 2014; Devi & Samanta, 2019; Williams et al., 2010). However, there have not been any studies that have investigated health and fitness magazines. Health and fitness magazines are important because they not only entertain and promote consumerism, but they also educate readers about how to achieve and maintain health and well-being across the life course (Jalloh et al., 2020). Guided by age relations theory (Biggs & Lowenstein, 2013), the purpose of my study was to examine how aging generally and older women in particular were represented in the advertisements and stories across three North American, widely read health and fitness magazines. My sample included all of the issues published between June and December 2020 in Health, Prevention, and Yoga Journal. I analyzed my data using content (Krippendorf, 2012) and thematic (Braun & Clarke, 2022) analytical methods. Results indicated that aging and older women were infrequently portrayed in health and fitness magazines. Where older adults were represented, they tended to be depicted in two ways across health and fitness magazine advertisements and stories. On the one hand, older adults were portrayed as being at risk of and vulnerable to physical and cognitive decline, with older women susceptible to emotional distress as a result of loss of youth and beauty. On the other hand, the depictions of aging and older women suggested that the avoidance of disease and disability and the preservation of physical attractiveness were possible, with sufficient individual effort and consumption. These findings suggest that youthfulness is valorized while old age is a problem that could and should be treated with engagement in consumer culture.