This book brings together the research findings of contemporary feminist age studies scholars
shame theorists and feminist gerontologists in order to unfurl the affective dynamics of
gendered ageism. In her analysis of what she calls ¿embodied shame ¿ J. Brooks Bouson describes
older women¿s shame about the visible signs of aging and the health and appearance of their
bodies as they undergo the normal processes of bodily aging. Examining both fictional and
nonfiction works by contemporary North American and British women authors this book offers a
sustained analysis of the various ways that ageism devalues and damages the identities of
otherwise psychologically healthy women in our graying culture. Shame theory as Bouson shows
astutely explains why gendered ageism is so deeply entrenched in our culture and why even aging
feminists may succumb to this distressing but sometimes hidden cultural affliction.
