Ageing and the body: one
African perspective
ENGUERRAN MACIA*, FATOU B. DIAL†, JOANN
M. MONTEPARE‡, FATOUMATA HANE* and
PRISCILLA DUBOZ*
ABSTRACT
How do non-Western societies envisage the relationship between the body and
ageing? The present work aimed to shed light on this question by exploring how
adult men and women of different ages living in Dakar, Senegal, view their bodies.
A quantitative methodology was selected, and this study was carried out on a
sample of , dwellers of the Senegalese capital, aged and older. This
sample was constructed using the quota method in order to strive for representative-
ness. Results indicate that appearance was highly important for Senegalese women
and men, and for younger and older adults alike. As in Western cultures, beauty
and youth were strongly connected. The large majority of Senegalese women and
men were satisfied with their looks across the lifespan. However, older women
were slightly less satisfied, consistent with the double standard hypothesis. Little dis-
crepancy was found between felt age and chronological age throughout the entire
lifecourse, arguing against an ageless self hypothesis in this African population.
The mask of ageing hypothesis was also rejected, as men’s and women’s identifica-
tion with their body did not diminish significantly across age. These observations
from an African perspective call for greater attention to the ageing process in
non-Western societies in order to challenge hypotheses developed in Western soci-
eties and understand more broadly the role of culture.
KEY WORDS – body image, mask of ageing, double standard, age identity, Senegal.
Introduction
The study of the body is not a new focus of investigation for the social scien-
tists. Sociologists (Durkheim [] ), anthropologists (Mauss []
* UMI Environnement, santé, sociétés, Université Cheikh Anta Diop,
Dakar-Fann, Senegal.
† Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar-Fann,
Senegal.
‡ RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies,
Lasell College, Newton, Massachusetts, USA.
Ageing & Society , , –. © Cambridge University Press
doi:./SX
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