Anthropology & Aging Quarterly  2013: 34 (3) 51

Jason Danely
Editor-in-Chief

Editor’s Introduction to the 
Issue: the Aging Body Jason Danely, Ph.D.Department of AnthropologyRhode Island College

jdanely@ric.edu

“The body” has long been a fertile topic for 
anthopological exploration, grounding the ways 
we consider everything from the molecular and 
genetic evolution of the human species, to the 
sense-mediated experience of culture, gender, 
sexuality and power. Aging too is an embodied 
process, though the body may also be used to  
contest and refashion aging in ways that  dissociate 
from ageist stereotypes and the stigma of bodily 
dependence. As a site of these contestations, it 
becomes a window into ourselves and our social 
life. How does old age and aging contribute to 
anthropological conversations on embodiment, 
bodily aesthetics, health, biopolitics, and longevity?  

Aging presents itself first through the body, but it is 
a body woven into the fabric of cultural and social 
life. The temporality marked by the aging body 
may be linked to changes in attitudes and self-
perceptions, as in James Hillman’s vivid description 
from his bestseller The Force of Character and the 
Lasting Life (1999):

In later years, the pull of gravity takes over. 
Ambitious, upwardly mobile social climbing, career 
and class, no longer offer glamour. You no longer 
need to be among the beautiful people or standon on 
the top deck shouting orders. Instead, the Great Sag: 
eye pouches, double chins, jowls, pendent breasts, 
hanging skin on your upper arms, droopy belly, butt, 
scrotum, labia; even the earlobes grow long toward 
the floor.

If we listen closely, Hillman’s description is full 
of freedoms granted by the aging body; a kind of 
relief presented somatically by the graceful “Great 
Sag.”  This month’s cover art and Portfolio feature 
visualizes Hillman’s words. Takacs’ work not only 
demonstrates the potential aesthetic beauty of the 

older subject, but it also expresses the joy found 
in working with those subjects, providing a space 
for recognition and engagement that extends far 
beyond the canvas.

As anthropologists, we are keenly aware of how   
presntations and practices of the aging body can 
bring about new reflections on the embodied 
self, bodily-mediated relationships, and cultural 
values. Since the topic of the body has already 
been examined from numerous angles within 
anthropology, we thought it appropriate to begin  
this issue with a theoretical commentary by PhD 
student, Ender Ricart. Ricart brings a critical 
perspective to some of the fundamental paradigms 
of the body in anthropology, and suggests ways 
in which chronotopes of aging might help us to 
expand and develop the field even more.  Ricart’s 
provocative commentary is followed by short 
response by Katrina Moore, whose work on aging 
and the body has also been based in Japan. 

AAQ received many inquires and submissions 
for this issue, and is happy to publish five full 
articles ranging from an a biological evolutionary 
perspective on menopause and women’s health 
(Froehle) to a phenomenological perspective 
on Filipina caregivers and their Israeli patients 
(Mazuz). They reveal the centrality of the aging 
body as located in social and political spaces  of 
demography and home care (Penney, Crampton) 
as well as in biosocial communities of leisure 
(Steadman).

We hope that this broad range of content is a useful 
resource for teaching and research, encouraging 
and inspiring even more discussions in this field.  

mailto:jdanely@ric.edu