This week the class had more opportunities to interact with one another, something that is lacking in this socially-distanced world. Some were able to meet up on campus in the huge outdoor classrooms to prepare the Valentine’s Day goodie bags for our older adult population and the homeless population. Being away from campus for almost a year now, I was amazed to see how the university transformed the outside space to create an environment of learning (see picture!) It was really nice to actually see people in-person, despite it being with masks on and 6 feet apart. Additionally, my group and I signed up to present on the book “Selling the Fountain of Youth” so we held a few Zoom meetings outside of class time to practice our presentation, giving each other tips through our tiny virtual screens about ways to improve. I appreciate how this class is very interactive and am excited to continue to learn and grow with my LCS cohort.
In regards to the content of the book, the author, Arlene Weintraub, focused on informing the readers of the anti-aging industry and the dangers in the claims it makes, backing her argument with personal testimonies and scientific evidence. The book made me realize how mainstream “anti-aging” was as a concept and how unaware we can be of it, as advertisements for skin care products, special smoothies, etc. all have at least some implication for being involved in preserving youthfulness. Instead of embracing the signs of age, people are socialized to fear and prevent it as they purchase anti-aging creams and may even go more extreme and use hormone injections in hopes of reversing the aging process. On a different note, I personally like the idea of prevention...if you can live in a way that prevents something bad from happening, then one should definitely do it. I think the problem with the anti-aging concept is that it points at aging as the “bad thing” instead of reframing the idea to focus on healthy aging, a concept that the professors brought up in our class discussion. Instead of working to stop, prevent, or reverse aging, healthy aging encourages people to continue to engage in physical activity, eat healthy, form meaningful relations, etc all in the effort to age “gracefully” and preserve functional ability with age. Aging is not this crippling, depressed stage in life that we might perceive it to be; aging varies with each individual and can still be filled with fun and independence
In regards to the content of the book, the author, Arlene Weintraub, focused on informing the readers of the anti-aging industry and the dangers in the claims it makes, backing her argument with personal testimonies and scientific evidence. The book made me realize how mainstream “anti-aging” was as a concept and how unaware we can be of it, as advertisements for skin care products, special smoothies, etc. all have at least some implication for being involved in preserving youthfulness. Instead of embracing the signs of age, people are socialized to fear and prevent it as they purchase anti-aging creams and may even go more extreme and use hormone injections in hopes of reversing the aging process. On a different note, I personally like the idea of prevention...if you can live in a way that prevents something bad from happening, then one should definitely do it. I think the problem with the anti-aging concept is that it points at aging as the “bad thing” instead of reframing the idea to focus on healthy aging, a concept that the professors brought up in our class discussion. Instead of working to stop, prevent, or reverse aging, healthy aging encourages people to continue to engage in physical activity, eat healthy, form meaningful relations, etc all in the effort to age “gracefully” and preserve functional ability with age. Aging is not this crippling, depressed stage in life that we might perceive it to be; aging varies with each individual and can still be filled with fun and independence