Resistance and acceptance: Ambivalent attitudes toward the aging body and antiaging practices among older Korean migrants living in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Using intersectionality as a conceptual framework, this study investigated how older Korean women living in New Zealand perceived their aging bodies, antiaging practices and/or products, and how they used such products. Thematic analysis identified three themes: tension between acceptance of the aging body as an inevitable process and transformation of the aging body into a healthy body, juggling between abstinence and use of antiaging products and practices, and redefining natural aging. The findings challenge binary interpretations between “acceptance” of and “resistance” to the experiences of the aging process and the use of antiaging practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging body
• antiaging
• intersectionality

Acknowledgments

I am sincerely grateful to Professor Amanda Barusch, Dr. Melanie Beres, and Dr. Carla Lam.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by a PhD scholarship from the University of Otago;PhD scholarship, University of Otago.