Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada

This study explores how South Asian Indian Gujarati older adults in Canada (Greater Vancouver area) strive to maintain personal continuity, citizenship, and selfhood through everyday body management practices (exercise/yoga, medication/health supplements, skin, and hair care routines) and cultural m...

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Autores principales:	Anusmita Devi, Laura Hurd, Tannistha Samanta
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2021
Materias:	diaspora embodied aging body practices later life identities india Anthropology GN1-890 Geriatrics RC952-954.6
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/aaf9701a776f4a94bfcac9a4cd84a920
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:aaf9701a776f4a94bfcac9a4cd84a9202021-11-11T19:34:31ZEmbodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada2374-226710.5195/aa.2021.304https://doaj.org/article/aaf9701a776f4a94bfcac9a4cd84a9202021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://anthro-age.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/anthro-age/article/view/304https://doaj.org/toc/2374-2267This study explores how South Asian Indian Gujarati older adults in Canada (Greater Vancouver area) strive to maintain personal continuity, citizenship, and selfhood through everyday body management practices (exercise/yoga, medication/health supplements, skin, and hair care routines) and cultural markers such as food, sartorial choices, and community engagement. This examination, we contend, is noteworthy against the backdrop of contemporary North American academic and popular discourses of a burgeoning consumerist movement around the medicalization of bodies and anti-aging technologies. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews of 26 older adults, we discuss how growing old in the diaspora is marked with moral ambivalence between ‘successful aging’ and ‘aging gracefully.’ Based on an inductive thematic analysis, we identify four major themes in how the older diaspora negotiate aging and reorganise their lives through changing social relations and shifting cultural institutions. The first theme is the growing salience of both bodily and social changes in conceptualizing “old age,” and how the experiences of aging vary by gender. Specifically, while most of the female participants visualized old age in terms of a loss of physical functionality, the male participants described agedness in terms of a loss of economic and social worth. The second major theme encapsulates the acceptable coping strategies for dealing with bodily changes and the associated reconfigurations of social roles. While a fit body and functionality were regarded as foundational traits for aging well by all participants, corrective measures or anti-aging products were not espoused as the most culturally appropriate “Indian” way of growing old. The third theme highlights the apprehensions regarding growing old in a foreign country, including a foreboding anxiety of dependence and frailty in the absence of traditional familial care networks. The final theme, explores how for most participants, the notion of home evoked ambivalence in constructing their sense of belonging and identity, often expressed through everyday practices and memory-keeping. Taken together, we ultimately show how age and embodiment are inextricably linked in the experience of growing old in the diaspora.Anusmita DeviLaura HurdTannistha SamantaUniversity Library System, University of Pittsburgharticlediasporaembodied agingbody practiceslater life identitiesindiaAnthropologyGN1-890GeriatricsRC952-954.6ENAnthropology & Aging, Vol 42, Iss 2, Pp 86-104 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	diaspora embodied aging body practices later life identities india Anthropology GN1-890 Geriatrics RC952-954.6
spellingShingle	diaspora embodied aging body practices later life identities india Anthropology GN1-890 Geriatrics RC952-954.6 Anusmita Devi Laura Hurd Tannistha Samanta Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada
description	This study explores how South Asian Indian Gujarati older adults in Canada (Greater Vancouver area) strive to maintain personal continuity, citizenship, and selfhood through everyday body management practices (exercise/yoga, medication/health supplements, skin, and hair care routines) and cultural markers such as food, sartorial choices, and community engagement. This examination, we contend, is noteworthy against the backdrop of contemporary North American academic and popular discourses of a burgeoning consumerist movement around the medicalization of bodies and anti-aging technologies. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews of 26 older adults, we discuss how growing old in the diaspora is marked with moral ambivalence between ‘successful aging’ and ‘aging gracefully.’ Based on an inductive thematic analysis, we identify four major themes in how the older diaspora negotiate aging and reorganise their lives through changing social relations and shifting cultural institutions. The first theme is the growing salience of both bodily and social changes in conceptualizing “old age,” and how the experiences of aging vary by gender. Specifically, while most of the female participants visualized old age in terms of a loss of physical functionality, the male participants described agedness in terms of a loss of economic and social worth. The second major theme encapsulates the acceptable coping strategies for dealing with bodily changes and the associated reconfigurations of social roles. While a fit body and functionality were regarded as foundational traits for aging well by all participants, corrective measures or anti-aging products were not espoused as the most culturally appropriate “Indian” way of growing old. The third theme highlights the apprehensions regarding growing old in a foreign country, including a foreboding anxiety of dependence and frailty in the absence of traditional familial care networks. The final theme, explores how for most participants, the notion of home evoked ambivalence in constructing their sense of belonging and identity, often expressed through everyday practices and memory-keeping. Taken together, we ultimately show how age and embodiment are inextricably linked in the experience of growing old in the diaspora.
format	article
author	Anusmita Devi Laura Hurd Tannistha Samanta
author_facet	Anusmita Devi Laura Hurd Tannistha Samanta
author_sort	Anusmita Devi
title	Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada
title_short	Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada
title_full	Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada
title_fullStr	Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada
title_full_unstemmed	Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada
title_sort	embodied aging: everyday body practices and later life identities among the south asian indian gujarati diaspora in canada
publisher	University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/aaf9701a776f4a94bfcac9a4cd84a920
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Embodied Aging: Everyday body practices and Later Life Identities among the South Asian Indian Gujarati Diaspora in Canada

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