RJA#12a - Annotated Bibliography

“Aging”, Dictionary.com. Web. 29 Mar. 2010.

The aging of the human body is an interesting and a very natural process that is often not considered, recognized or appreciated while one is living younger, more active years of life. As defined by Dictionary.com, Aging: “…one of the periods or stages of human life: a person of middle age.” In respect to the aging female body, the highly complex and intricate manner in which the female body is designed, often lends to more complex methods of how one manages the changes.

“Aging & What You Can Do About It”, Be Fit over Fifty, Inc. Web. 15 Apr. 2010

As noted by an organization called, Be Fit over Fifty, “studies indicate that between the ages of 30 & 70 many of the symptoms & conditions that were traditionally associated with normal aging are in fact the result of sedentary lifestyles.”

The North American Menopause Society. The Changing Body. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

Hormonal changes often bring new and perplexing swings in emotion levels and responses. The North American Menopause Society reports that the effects of hormonal changes are different and unique to each individual woman. It goes on to state that as the changes vary from woman to woman, and that “[m]any factors contribute to the amount of distress caused by these changes, including the life stresses and physiological effects of aging and disease, if any. As a rule, most changes end soon after menopause and don’t require treatment.”

National Osteoporosis Foundation. Osteoporosis What is it? NOF.ORG. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

Additionally, modern medicine has documented the change in a woman’s muscle and bone composition and density – sometimes growing weak and frail, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, “…women are four times more likely than men to develop the disease…”

Winterich, Julie A. Aging, Femininity, and the Body: What Appearance Changes Mean to Women with Age. Gender Issues. Springer New York, 2007. Web. 11 Apr. 2010.

One of the first sign/symptoms of aging is obvious: it is what one sees with the eye – a woman’s appearance. As state by Julie Winterich in her article, Aging, Femininity, and the Body: What Appearance Changes Mean to Women with Age, “A commonsense assumption in U.S. culture is that as women age, they should retain a youthful appearance.” Appearance reveals the loss of the soft, smooth skin on the face, hands and body as elasticity is lost and wrinkles begin to form.