7 - Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2020
Summary
This chapter highlights commonalities and differences between the forms of rejuvenation practice. Whilst much rejuvenation activity was dismissed as quackery, this chapter instead identifies a strong scientific underpinning to many of the methods reputed to produce rejuvenating effects. Medical entrepreneurs were highly skilled in exploiting the cultural attraction of rejuvenation, particularly in the immediate aftermath of World War One, when anxieties about the fitness of (particular male) populations came to the fore. Ultimately, this chapter argues that the products which we decide to use on, in and around our bodies to preserve a state of youthfulness reveal a great deal about our views not just on ageing but also medicine, sexuality, gender, and our place in society. In an era before widespread cosmetic surgery, research into regenerative medicine and the emergence of aesthetic medicine as an organised discipline, attempts to stave off the effects of ageing were already deeply bound up in commercial activity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cult of YouthAnti-Ageing in Modern Britain, pp. 205 - 213Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020