Obscene or Exemplary? Robert Marchand’s Cycling World Hour Record

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-72

The cycling world hour record for riders over 105 years old set in 2017 by Robert Marchand was much discussed in France in a context of neoliberal discourses about work and retirement. Within a debate about work characterized by desires to encourage “active aging,” Marchand’s sporting athletic effort was variously perceived as exemplary hard work and productive old age, or as an obscene abuse of athleticism. This article examines the reception of Marchand’s record within the wider context of contemporary neoliberal trends in French politics, culture, and society. It considers Marchand’s working life, active sporting retirement, and left-wing politics. It shows how media coverage and public discussion of the sporting “work” of his “performance” exemplified competing discourses in France’s national discussions about neoliberalism.

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tove Midtsundstad ◽  
Hanne Bogen

A main objective of European governments is to reduce the number of early retirees, either by reforming pension systems or promoting active aging in working life. The importance of formulating a coherent personnel policy for all age groups is increasingly recognized by employers. However, there is still a lack of knowledge as how to strategically cope with an aging labor force. The aim of this article is to define and discuss a number of challenges arising from workplace-related active aging policies. We in particular discuss how an emphasis on economic incentives and gains (“senior goods”) may give rise to unanticipated side effects for the employers as well as the employees. The article is based on results from two recent studies: one study examining six Norwegian municipalities with seemingly good practices in work-related old age policies, and another examining such policies in eight establishments in four different industries.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
MiJung Eum ◽  
HyungSeon Kim

With the increase in the aging population worldwide, social interest in having a vibrant and valuable old age has been increasing with changes in the perspectives on old age. This study aimed to determine the relationship between active aging and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in middle-aged and older Korean using national data. The subjects were 14,117 adults aged ≥55 years. HRQOL was evaluated using the EuroQol–5 Dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaire, and active aging was defined based on the health factors, participation factors, and security factors. The average EQ-5D score was 91.04 ± 0.143. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis sequentially inputting the health, participation, and security factors showed that health factors had the strongest influence on HRQOL (F = 216.656, p < 0.001). In the final model, which included all variables, activity limit (B = −10.477, p < 0.001) and subjective health status (B = −7.282, p < 0.001) were closely related to the HRQOL. In addition, economic activity, income level, home ownership, private health insurance, and unmet healthcare needs were associated with HRQOL. The R2 of the model was 38.2%. To improve the HRQOL of middle-aged and older people, it is necessary to consider active aging factors. Furthermore, follow-up studies using various indicators reflecting active aging should be conducted.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Eileen Díaz McConnell ◽  
Neal Christopherson ◽  
Michelle Janning

In 2019, the U.S. Women’s National Team earned its fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup. Has gendered commentary in media coverage about the U.S. Women’s National Team changed since winning their first World Cup 20 years ago? Drawing on 188 newspaper articles published in three U.S. newspapers in 2019, the analyses contrast media representations of the 2019 team with a previous study focused on coverage of the 1999 team. Our analysis shows important shifts in the coverage over time. The 1999 team was popular because of their contradictory femininity in which they were “strong-yet-soft.” By 2019, the team’s popularity was rooted in their talent, hard work, success, and refusal to be silent about persisting gender-based disparities in sport and the larger society.


Fitoterapia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-61
Author(s):  
V. V. Krutov ◽  

Keywords: health, Spirit, energy, synergistic approach, gerontology, quality longevity, allopathic medicine, informational-energetic medicine. The article discusses the issue of active aging strategies that differ from those used in traditional medicine. Practice shows that the resources of the latter are insufficient for successfully overcoming the systemic problems of people, growing with aging and maximum in old age. The accumulation of the problematic nature of the physical body in long-lived people requires a special, comprehensive approach to treatment with penetration into the root nature of a person. Based on innovative knowledge, including data from his own research, the author is talking about a synergistic approach that includes, along with the existing practice of treating the elderly, methods of informational- energetic medicine. Medicine, working at the level of the subtle, causal sphere of a person, where the roots of all his diseases lie and are revealed. This way of solving, the author believes, bears the maximum healing effect for the body on all levels of its multidimensionality – substance, information, energy.


1998 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 560-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Flamiano

This article analyzes the emergence of media discourses on contraception from 1915 to 1917, focusing on coverage in the New York Times, The New Republic, and Harper's Weekly. Considered legally obscene and unfit for public discussion, contraception first made headlines as a result of Margaret Sanger's birth control activism and ensuing legal troubles. After the New York Times covered Sanger's activities, several magazines began to publish articles on the contraception debate. This early coverage of birth control emphasized its scientific and social utility, virtually ignoring controversial issues of gender, sexuality, and power.


2021 ◽  
pp. 117-134
Author(s):  
Katharina F. Gallant

The presidency of Donald Trump is a core example of the role of sensationalism in politics. Trump has accused political opponents of both devilry and moral degradation, but such accusations have gone both ways. In her examination of German media coverage of Trump, Katharina Gallant shows how Trump has been portrayed as politically and morally inadequate. Bringing together Cohen’s traditional framework with Paul Joosse’s work on charismatic leadership, this chapter illuminates how Trump has emerged as a devil figure for the left wing in Europe, while similarly being someone that the European left-wingers have had few options for dealing with.


Author(s):  
Jim Ogg ◽  
Michal Myck

AbstractEconomic exclusion is a multidimensional concept that has particular relevance in the context of ageing populations and globalised economies. Sustaining adequate incomes in old age and protecting older citizens from poverty are major challenges for governments and policy makers and they have been amplified in the face of the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few decades most countries have made adjustments to their pension systems and other welfare related policies that concern older citizens, and these reforms have already had and will continue to have a differential impact on economic exclusion. For some, extending the working life and pushing back the legal age of retirement can be a safeguard against inadequate incomes in old age, while for others who are excluded from the labour market, or who are working in low paid jobs, economic exclusion remains a reality. The labour market implications of the pandemic are likely to exacerbate this risk for those whose situation was already fragile before the crisis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 86-117
Author(s):  
Mark G. Altshuller ◽  

The Little Tragedies and Belkin’s Tales were written at the same time. In the former, Pushkin examines the main, eternal, and insoluble confl icts of existence: love and death, life and death, inspiration and hard work, youth and old age. These confl icts are tragic, and are in principle insoluble, for humanity. Their collision constitutes the very essence of human life and of human civilization. But — according to Pushkin — what is insoluble for humanity as a whole might be, at least partly, resolved by way of a compromise, when it comes to individual human lives. This is what Belkin’s Tales are about.


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