Sex After Fifty: The ‘Invisible’ Female Ageing Body in Spanish Women-authored Cinema

Author(s):  
Barbara Zecchi

This chapter discusses the figure of the ageing female character as a sexual being in a wide selection of films directed by Spanish women filmmakers including Cecilia Bartolomé, Isabel Coixet, Pilar Miró, Josefina Molina or Paula Ortíz among others. The author usefully identifies a number of sometimes opposing strategies that serve to organise the films into three distinctive categories. Some films actively spectacularise the body of the mature and sexually active woman, others do the opposite and use the portrayal of the unglamorous older female body as a means to draw attention to and denounce the expectations set by the youth-obsessed mainstream film and media that displace mature women making them invisible. Finally, the chapter identifies a third group of films with ‘affirmative ageing’ discourses. This latter group of films actively encourage the spectator’s sensual engagement with the erotic experiences of the older women on the screen.

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengna Guo ◽  
Victor E. Kuzmichev ◽  
Dominique C. Adolphe

Abstract Recently, the development efforts focused on the computer simulation of garments, which depend on the material's physico-mechanical properties. It intends to achieve the best possible and realistic simulations of garments, which are available for pressure prediction. In this manner, 3D garment virtual technology improvements allow the visualization of pressure areas with values where the fabric might be too tight against the body. Although the purposes of simulation graphics were acceptable, the accuracy for apparel shaping is not enough to meet the needs of Virtual Prototyping and CAD utilization especially while the fabric properties system design was inadequate. Moreover, the existing pressure simulation is intended to simply predict the pressure index or how the textile deformation extend, which are deficient in real human's perception. In this research, the 3D shapes belonging to typical female bodies and dresses made of different fabrics were obtained by 3D body scanners (ScanWorX and TELMAT). Through reconstruction for the 3D torso shapes, the volumetric eases between body and dress were calculated by means of a software Rhinoceros. A new approach for the selection of textile properties based on the Kawabata Evaluation System (KES) was proposed to investigate its relations with dress shaping and pressure comfort. Finally, fabric properties tested by the KES-F system were compared with volumetric eases, objective pressure indexes and subjective comfort scores to reveal the relations how the fabric properties have impacts on dress outside shaping and inside pressure comfort of a female body. In this manner, the human-friendly CAD instead of mechanical approach existing before has been presented as a new approach to promote the construction of a realistic system for the 3D simulation optimization.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 709-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA HURD CLARKE ◽  
MERIDITH GRIFFIN ◽  
KATHERINE MALIHA

ABSTRACTThis paper examines older women's experiences and perceptions of clothing prescriptions for adults in later life. Using data from in-depth interviews with 36 women aged 71 to 93 years, we investigate the stringent, taken-for-granted social norms that older women identified with respect to appropriate fashion for the ageing female body. Specifically, the participants argued that older women should refrain from wearing bright colours and revealing or overly suggestive styles. Expressing a preference for classic or traditional styles, the women also reported that they used clothing strategically to mask or compensate for bodily transgressions that had occurred over time as a result of the physical realities of ageing, including weight gain, altered body shapes, wrinkles and sagging or ‘flabby’ arms and necks, referred to respectively as ‘bat wings’ and ‘turkey wattles’. In addition, the women contended that they consciously chose their clothing styles to compensate for age-related health issues and/or to present a competent, healthy self to others. Finally, the women talked about the ways in which their clothing choices were influenced by their changing lifestyles and constrained by a lack of desirable and affordable clothing options for the older female body. The findings are discussed in the light of Erving Goffman's concept of stigma and contemporary theorising about ageing, ageism, beauty work and the body.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1221-1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
BARBARA HUMBERSTONE ◽  
CAROL CUTLER-RIDDICK

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we consider the ageing body and the ‘body techniques’ practised by older women within their yoga classes. The paper emphasises the importance of exploring alternative definitions of the human condition, how these are shaped and assembled through particular embodied practices which are realised personally and socially. Taking a contextualised phenomenological approach, older women's experiences are made visible through interview and participant observation. Unlike much sporting practice, the body techniques managed by the women did not emphasise sporting prowess but provided for an integration of body and mind. In the process, biological ageing was accepted yet the women maintained control over the process, troubling prevailing narratives of ageing, declining control and increasing weakness that are taken for granted in much of Western society. The paper highlights the significance of socially rooted ontological embodiment in understanding the ageing body and particular bodily practices.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 495-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Guéguen

Nelson and Morrison (2005 , study 3) reported that men who feel hungry preferred heavier women. The present study replicates these results by using real photographs of women and examines the mediation effect of hunger scores. Men were solicited while entering or leaving a restaurant and asked to report their hunger on a 10-point scale. Afterwards, they were presented with three photographs of a woman in a bikini: One with a slim body type, one with a slender body type, and one with a slightly chubby body. The participants were asked to indicate their preference. Results showed that the participants entering the restaurant preferred the chubby body type more while satiated men preferred the thinner or slender body types. It was also found that the relation between experimental conditions and the choices of the body type was mediated by men’s hunger scores.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 358-373
Author(s):  
Louise Wilks

The representation of rape continues to be one of the most highly charged issues in contemporary cinema, and whilst many discussions of this topic focus on Hollywood movies, sexual violation is also a pervasive topic in British cinema. This article examines the portrayal of a female's rape in the British feature My Brother Tom (2001), a powerful and often troubling text in which the sexual violation of the teenage female protagonist functions as a catalyst for the events that comprise the plot, as is often the case in rape narratives. The article provides an overview of some of the key feminist academic discussions and debates that cinematic depictions of rape have prompted, before closely analysing My Brother Tom's rape scene in relation to such discourses. The article argues that the rape scene is neither explicit nor sensationalised, and that by having the camera focus on Jessica's bewildered reactions, it positions the audience with her, and powerfully but discreetly portrays the grave nature of sexual abuse. The article then moves on to examine the portrayal of sexual violation in My Brother Tom as a whole, considering the cultural inscriptions etched on the female body within its account of rape, before concluding with a discussion of the film's depiction of Jessica's ensuing methods of bodily self-inscription as she attempts to disassociate her body from its sexual violation.


EDUSAINS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-175
Author(s):  
Gia Juniar Nur Wahidah ◽  
Sjaeful Anwar

Abstract This research aims to produce science teaching materials in junior level with Energy in The Body as the theme using Four Steps Teaching Material Development  (4STMD). The material is presented in an integrated way so that students can  think holistically and contextually. The method used in this study is Research and Development. In this R&D methods is used 4STMD. There are four steps done on the development of teaching materials, the selection step, structuring step, characterization, and didactic reduction. Selection step includes the selection of indicators in accordance with the demands of the curriculum which is then developed with the selection of concepts and values that are integrated with the concept of science. Structuring step includes make macro structures, concept maps, and multiple representations. Characterization's step includes preparation instruments, then  trial to students to identify difficult concepts. The last, didactic reduction was done by neglect and the annotations in the form of sketches.The test results readability aspect instructional materials lead to the conclusion that by determining the main idea, the legibility of teaching materials reached 67%, with moderate readability criteria. Test results of feasibility aspects based on the results of questionnaires to the 11 teachers lead to the conclusion that the overall, level of eligibility teaching materials reached 91% with the eligibility criteria well. Keywords: teaching materials; energy; 4STMD Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menghasilkan bahan ajar IPA SMP pada tema Energi dalam Tubuh menggunakan metode Four Steps Teaching Material Development (4STMD). Materi disajikan secara terpadu sehingga memacu siswa untuk berpikir secara holistik dan kontekstual. Metode penelitian yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian dan pengembangan. Dalam penelitian dan pengembangan yang ini, digunakan metode Four Steps Teaching Material Development (4STMD). Terdapat empat tahap yang dilakukan pada pengembangan bahan ajar, yakni tahap seleksi, strukturisasi, karakterisasi, dan reduksi didaktik. Tahap seleksi meliputi pemilihan indikator yang sesuai dengan tuntutan kurikulum yang kemudian dikembangkan dengan pemilihan konsep dan nilai yang diintegrasikan dengan konsep IPA. Tahap strukturisasi meliputi pembuatan struktur makro, peta konsep, dan multipel representasi dari materi. Tahap karakterisasi meliputi penyusunan instrumen karakterisasi, kemudian uji coba kepada siswa untuk mengidentifikasi konsep sulit. Tahap terakhir, yaitu reduksi didaktik konsep terhadap konsep sulit. Reduksi didaktik yang dilakukan berupa pengabaian dan penggunaan penjelasan berupa sketsa. Hasil uji aspek keterbacaan bahan ajar menghasilkan kesimpulan bahwa berdasarkan penentuan ide pokok, keterbacaan bahan ajar mencapai 67%, dengan kriteria keterbacaan tinggi. Hasil uji aspek kelayakan berdasarkan hasil angket terhadap 11 orang guru menghasilkan kesimpulan bahwa secara keseluruhan tingkat kelayakan bahan ajar mencapai 91% dengan kriteria kelayakan baik sekali. Kata Kunci: bahan ajar; energi; 4STMD  Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/es.v8i2.2039  


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-113
Author(s):  
Obert Bernard Mlambo ◽  

This article examined attitudes, knowledge, behavior and practices of men and society on Gender bias in sports. The paper examined how the African female body was made into an object of contest between African patriarchy and the colonial system and also shows how the battle for the female body eventually extended into the sporting field. It also explored the postcolonial period and the effects on Zimbabwean society of the colonial ideals of the Victorian culture of morality. The study focused on school sports and the participation of the girl child in sports such as netball, volleyball and football. Reference was made to other sports but emphasis was given to where women were affected. It is in this case where reference to the senior women soccer team was made to provide a case study for purposes of illustration. Selected rural community and urban schools were served as case references for ethnographic accounts which provided the qualitative data used in the analysis. In terms of methodology and theoretical framework, the paper adopted the political economy of the female body as an analytical viewing point in order to examine the body of the girl child and of women in action on the sporting field in Zimbabwe. In this context, the female body is viewed as deeply contested and as a medium that functions as a site for the redirection, profusion and transvaluation of gender ideals. Using the concept of embodiment, involving demeanor, body shape and perceptions of the female body in its social context, the paper attempted to establish a connection between gender ideologies and embodied practice. The results of the study showed the prevalence of condescending attitudes towards girls and women participation in sports.


The paper provides an analysis of the structuralist and phenomenological traditions in interpretation of female body practices. The structuralist intellectual tradition bases its methodology on concepts from social anthropology and philosophy that see the body as ‘ordered’ by social institutions. Structuralist approaches within academic feminism are focused on critical study of the social regulation of female bodies with respect to reproduction and sexualisation (health and beauty practices). The author focuses on the dominant physical ideal of femininity and the means for body pedagogics that have been constructed by patriarchal authority. In contrast to theories of the ordered body, the phenomenological tradition is focused on the “lived” body, embodied experience, and the personal motivation and values attached to body practices. This tradition has been influenced by a variety of schools of thought including philosophical anthropology, phenomenology and action theories in sociology. Within academic feminism, there are at least three phenomenologically oriented strategies of interpretation of female body practices. The first one is centred around women’s individual situation and bodily socialization; the second one studies interrelation between body practices and the sense of the self; and the third one postulates the potential of body practices to destabilize the dominant ideals of femininity and thus provides a theoretical basis for feminist activism. The phenomenological tradition primarily analyses the motivational, symbolic and value-based components of body practices as they interact with women’s corporeality and sense of self. In general, both structuralist and phenomenological traditions complement each other by focusing on different levels of analysis of female embodiment.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105971232199468
Author(s):  
Paolo Pagliuca ◽  
Stefano Nolfi

We introduce a method that permits to co-evolve the body and the control properties of robots. It can be used to adapt the morphological traits of robots with a hand-designed morphological bauplan or to evolve the morphological bauplan as well. Our results indicate that robots with co-adapted body and control traits outperform robots with fixed hand-designed morphologies. Interestingly, the advantage is not due to the selection of better morphologies but rather to the mutual scaffolding process that results from the possibility to co-adapt the morphological traits to the control traits and vice versa. Our results also demonstrate that morphological variations do not necessarily have destructive effects on robots’ skills.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110040
Author(s):  
Josefine Dilling ◽  
Anders Petersen

In this article, we argue that certain behaviour connected to the attempt to attain contemporary female body ideals in Denmark can be understood as an act of achievement and, thus, as an embodiment of the culture of achievement, as it is characterised in Præstationssamfundet, written by the Danish sociologist Anders Petersen (2016) Hans Reitzels Forlag . Arguing from cultural psychological and sociological standpoints, this article examines how the human body functions as a mediational tool in different ways from which the individual communicates both moral and aesthetic sociocultural ideals and values. Complex processes of embodiment, we argue, can be described with different levels of internalisation, externalisation and materialisation, where the body functions as a central mediator. Analysing the findings from a qualitative experimental study on contemporary body ideals carried out by the Danish psychologists Josefine Dilling and Maja Trillingsgaard, this article seeks to anchor such theoretical claims in central empirical findings. The main conclusions from the study are used to structure the article and build arguments on how expectations and ideals expressed in an achievement society become embodied.


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