IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v75y2012i7p1236-1243.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A will to youth: The woman’s anti-aging elixir

Author

Listed:
  • Smirnova, Michelle Hannah

Abstract

The logic and cultural myths that buttress the cosmeceutical industry construct the older woman as a victim of old age, part of an “at-risk” population who must monitor, treat and prevent any markers of old age. A content and discourse analysis of 124 advertisements from the US More magazine between 1998 and 2008, revealed three major themes working together to produce this civic duty: (1) the inclusion of scientific and medical authorities in order to define the cosmeceutical as a ‘drug’ curing a disease, (2) descriptions of the similarities (and differences) between the abilities of cosmeceuticals and cosmetic surgery to restore one’s youth, and (3) the logic equating youth with beauty, femininity and power and older age with the absence of these qualities. Together these intersecting logics produce the “will to youth”—the imperative of the aging woman to promote her youthful appearance by any and all available means. Further, by using images and references to fantasies and traditional fairytales, cosmeceutical advertisements both promise and normalize expectations of eternal youth of the aging woman.

Suggested Citation

  • Smirnova, Michelle Hannah, 2012. "A will to youth: The woman’s anti-aging elixir," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1236-1243.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:7:p:1236-1243
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612004315
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.061?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeho Lee, 2003. "Innovation and Strategic Divergence: An Empirical Study of the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry from 1920 to 1960," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(2), pages 143-159, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eaves, Emery R., 2015. "“Just Advil”: Harm reduction and identity construction in the consumption of over-the-counter medication for chronic pain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 147-154.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chang, Sungyong & Kim, Hyunseob & Song, Jaeyong & Lee, Keun, 2024. "Dynamics of imitation versus innovation in technological leadership change: Latecomers’ catch-up strategies in diverse technological regimes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(9).
    2. Douglas H. Frank, 2014. "Governance Institutions and Adaptation Costs: Evidence from the Fall of the Berlin Wall," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(1), pages 166-187, January.
    3. Jeffrey L. Furman & Megan MacGarvie, 2007. "Academic Science and the Birth of Industrial Research Laboratories in the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry," NBER Chapters, in: Academic Science and Entrepreneurship: Dual Engines of Growth, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Ashish Arora & Sharon Belenzon & Andrea Patacconi & Jungkyu Suh, 2020. "The Changing Structure of American Innovation: Some Cautionary Remarks for Economic Growth," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 39-93.
    5. Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro & Pier Saviotti, 2014. "Knowledge characteristics and the dynamics of technological alliances in pharmaceuticals: empirical evidence from Europe, US and Japan," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 587-622, July.
    6. Scott A. Shane & Karl T. Ulrich, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: Technological Innovation, Product Development, and Entrepreneurship in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 133-144, February.
    7. Lee, Jeho & Park, Seung Ho & Ryu, Young & Baik, Yoon-Suk, 2010. "A hidden cost of strategic alliances under Schumpeterian dynamics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 229-238, March.
    8. Tim Swift, 2016. "The perilous leap between exploration and exploitation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1688-1698, August.
    9. Jeho Lee & Jaeyong Song & Jae-Suk Yang, 2016. "Network structure effects on incumbency advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1632-1648, August.
    10. A. Arrighetti & R. Brancati & A. Lasagni & A. Maresca, 2015. "Firms’ heterogeneity and performance in manufacturing during the great recession," Economics Department Working Papers 2015-EP03, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    11. Leiponen, Aija & Drejer, Ina, 2007. "What exactly are technological regimes?: Intra-industry heterogeneity in the organization of innovation activities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1221-1238, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:7:p:1236-1243. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.