Older women's bodies and the self: the construction of identity in later life.

This paper explores the uneasy and often conflicted relationship between an older woman's sense of self and her aging body. Using data from semi-structured interviews with 22 female participants aged 61 to 92 years, the paper examines the influence of the loss of perceived physical attractiveness and the deterioration of health and functional abilities on an older woman's sense of identity. The paper discusses the women's experience of the body as both mask and prison of the self and elucidates the challenge of the reflected image to a woman's sense of being youthful on the "inside."