On The Aging Female Bodies In Doris Lessing’s The Diary Of A Good Neighbor

The Diary of a Good Neighbor is one of a series of works concerning aging problems in the contemporary western society written by the Nobel laureate Doris Lessing.Through the diary of Jane Sommers,the middle-aged narrative protagonist,which records her encountering with Maudie Fowler,a 92-year-old working class woman,and their growing friendship,Lessing reveals the ageist discrimination against aging female bodies in western culture.With the guidance of sexageism,this thesis tries to analyze the double oppression —sexism and ageism falling upon the middle-aged and old female bodies and their persistent resistance against it.The first chapter analyzes the objectified bodies of middle-aged women represented by Jane.For a long time,the deep-rooted patriarchal culture believes that the value of women is mainly reflected in the sexual and reproductive function.And women deeply internalize this point of view.Therefore,when they no longer have the reproductive function,they would try to maintain their sexual appeal at all costs and regard the internal self as completely equivalent to the physical appearances,thus objectifying the body by treating their body as a mask to represent identity,an object to be gazed upon and an instrument to fight against aging.The second chapter analyzes old women’s body status in the sexageist society.If middle aged women still have the capability of being accepted by the sexageist society by managing their physical appearances,then old women have nothing to do but be reduced to useless presence.They are more than just objectified.Instead,they are alienated as an invisible body in society,a lifeless body in medical practice and a shameful body in personal sense.The third chapter mainly explores the resistance of middle and old aged women.Where there is oppression,there will be resistance.Fundamentally,the disadvantageous position of middle-aged and old women in sexageist culture is due to the deep-rooted binary opposition of mind and body.Sexageists always treat the body from the perspective of separation from mind,believing that the body is just a pure physical existence,ignoring the subject feeling of the body and the potential of the body.This chapter analyzes Jane’s resistance by returning to her subjective body,Maudie’s resistance by insisting on her resentful body,and by inclining to her narrative body.They are challenging the misrecognition of sexageist culture towards their bodies.Conclusion points out in the sexageist culture,though women have gained freedom and power in many fields,new forms of oppression against women have emerged which presents in non-violent ways on their bodies.The bodies of both middle aged women and old women are facing different kinds of oppression.Women’s bodies are under a lot of pressure that men are not.Their physical appearances occupy an increasingly central position while the internal aspect of the body is neglected.In this case,it is possible to solve the dilemma of middle aged and old aged women by getting rid of the duality of mind and body and paying more attention to the subjective experience of the body.