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Why these dog breeds are ideal for seniors

Reasons why dogs are good for seniors Affectionate, loyal, nurturing: There are lots of reasons why dogs make great companions for seniors. Not only do dogs provide comfort and friendship, but they also help keep seniors healthy and encourage sociability. In fact, a 2019 study found that people who owned dogs were more likely to maintain better heart health and be more active, than those without pets. “Dogs give seniors a reason to get up and move – and walking a dog keeps them fit,” explains veterinarian Dr Anita Kinscher-Juran. Another plus: When you get out of the house for that walk, you have more chances to be social, too, from greeting neighbours on the street to impromptu conversations with fellow dog owners. But adopting a dog is a big decision. Just like with a human companion, you need to understand what you’re looking for in a dog before committing to a long-term living arrangement. Some important points to think about as you search for the best dogs for seniors are energy levels (vets often recommend calm dog breeds for older folks), the size of your home (<a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/pets/13-best-apartment-dogs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">these are the best apartment dogs</a>) and the size of the dog, the breed’s socialness (some breeds, like Pomeranians, make the best emotional support dogs) and a dog’s age and temperament. Health and grooming needs and maintenance requirements (i.e. how often dogs need to be brushed, for instance) are also important considerations. Cocker spaniels, while super cute with their big, long ears, are also known for having frequent ear infections, for instance. And while Havanese, one of the cutest white dog breeds, are very portable, they also require a lot of grooming. The decision to adopt a pet is not one that should be taken lightly. “Bringing a pet into the household is a lifelong decision for that animal,” says Dr Kinscher-Juran. But after thoroughly considering your situation and needs, it’s comforting to know, as Dr Kinscher-Juran says “that there is a dog for everyone and every age.” Here are the top 15 best dogs for seniors. Best overall: Bichon Frise These white powder puffs of a dog are known for their sweet and friendly nature and are perfect for seniors seeking easy companionship – they also make <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/pets/15-best-dogs-for-first-time-owners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">great pets for first-time dog owners</a>. These low-maintenance pups aren’t difficult to potty train and don’t shed much, which is why they are one of the best dogs for older people, Dr Kinscher-Juran says. (But to keep their snow-white hair looking fluffy, they do require grooming every five or so weeks.) Bichons are gentle and playful and they get along well with other pets and children, so you don’t need to put them in another room if the grandkids stop by! At an average of 5 to 8 kilograms, they are also super portable. Not to mention smart. “One of my favourite bichons knew how to give a kiss in three different languages, one of which was Portuguese,” says Dr Kinscher-Juran. Like the best toy dogs, they are perfectly content to sit on your lap for hours every morning, as you read the paper or watch the news. Bichon Frise’s don’t require long, five kilometre hikes to keep them happy, rather they’re fine with 20- to 30-minute leisurely strolls. What they crave most is attention, something seniors often have time to give. Breed Overview Height: 24 to 30 cms Weight: 5 to 8 kgs Life expectancy: 14 to 15 years Best lap dog: Cavalier King Charles spaniel If you are looking for one of the best dogs for older people, cavalier King Charles spaniels should be high on your list. It’s easy to fall in love with their big eyes and long ears. And Cavalier King Charles spaniels, in turn, like nothing more than to kiss and cuddle with their owners. Cavalier King Charles spaniels have an eager to please personality, which makes them easier to train. They also only require a moderate amount of exercise, which can be good for less active seniors. Beauty, of course, requires attention. Dr Kinscher-Juran suggests brushing their long luxurious coats once a day, which isn’t hard to do, considering they’re one of the best lap dog breeds! Breed Overview Height: 3.5 to 33 cms Weight: 5.8 to 8 kgs Life expectancy: 12 to 15 years Best apartment dog: Pug If you are looking for one of the best dogs for older people, cavalier King Charles spaniels should be high on your list. It’s easy to fall in love with their big eyes and long ears. And Cavalier King Charles spaniels, in turn, like nothing more than to kiss and cuddle with their owners. Cavalier King Charles spaniels have an eager to please personality, which makes them easier to train. They also only require a moderate amount of exercise, which can be good for less active seniors. Beauty, of course, requires attention. Dr Kinscher-Juran suggests brushing their long luxurious coats once a day, which isn’t hard to do, considering they’re one of the best lap dog breeds! Breed Overview Height: 3.5 to 33 cms Weight: 5.8 to 8 kgs Life expectancy: 12 to 15 years Best small dog: Maltese One of the best small dogs for seniors is the Maltese. These adorable white toy dogs were specifically bred to be companions. Loyal, sweet-natured, calm and adaptable, it’s not hard for a Maltese to quickly become seniors’ best four-legged friend. Though they love following their owners around, all they really need for health is short easy walks. At an average of 2 kilograms, Malteses are also easily transportable (which is a good thing since Malteses don’t like to be left alone too long). Their small size also makes them well suited for apartments or homes with limited space. You can’t mention a Maltese without mentioning their long, silky, white mane, which can be braided or put into a bun. “For the person who wants a living Barbie doll, and loves playing with hair, Malteses are your dog,” Dr. Kinscher-Juran says. But if all that grooming becomes too much, you can have the hair trimmed or shaped down. Breed Overview Height: 17 to 22 cms Weight: Under 3 kgs Life expectancy: 12 to 15 years Most social dog: Havanese Sweet, friendly and eager for attention: Havanese make great companions for seniors who find themselves at home more. As a breed, Haveneses don’t like to be alone for very long. (There’s a reason they’re called Velcro dogs). These super social dogs crave affection and get along well with other breeds and strangers. Their high intelligence makes them easier to train and potty train. And at about 5 kgs, they are easy to carry. Walks might take a bit longer with Haveneses because they will want to try to say hi to everyone. But for seniors, looking for sociability, this is not such a bad thing! That’s why Havaneses are one of the best dogs for seniors. Breed Overview Height: 22 to 30 cms Weight: 3 to 6 kgs Life expectancy: 14 to 16 years Best house dog: Miniature schnauzers Miniature schnauzers are one of the most adaptable breeds of dogs. Originally bred as a farm dog in Germany, miniature schnauzers are just as content living in an assisted living facility as they are roaming outdoors. Small, sturdy, hypoallergenic and affectionate, miniature schnauzers are great with, say, rambunctious grandchildren. And their calmness – and attunement to the moods of humans – make them excellent therapy animals. Miniature schnauzers both play hard and relax hard. They need a moderate amount of daily exercise but are also good at simply lounging around, while their owners watch TV or make dinner. Breed Overview Height: 30.5 to 36 cms Weight: 5 to 9 kgs Life expectancy: 12 to 15 years Best large dog: Greyhound With their lean bodies, flexible spines, and long legs, greyhounds are known for their athletic ability and for being the fastest dog breed. What is not as well-known is that their gentle and sensitive temperament and minimal grooming needs make them one of the best dogs for seniors. Older, retired racing greyhounds are often the best choice for seniors,. “As racing dogs, they often live on a track without much positive human and social interaction,” Dr Kinscher-Juran says. “When they’re adopted, they’re far more appreciative of the loving home you are providing, and don’t seem to take that for granted.” And though they do need daily exercise, greyhounds – perhaps surprisingly! – are renowned for their laziness. Weighing anywhere from 27 to 31.7 kgs, these gentle giants, are content to lounge around the house, accepting pets and back rubs. Breed Overview Height: 67 to 76 cms Weight: 27 to 31.7 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 13 years Best with grandkids: Golden Retrievers Golden retrievers are a large breed with an even larger heart. For seniors looking for gentle dog breeds, golden retrievers are loyal, friendly, intelligent, people-pleasers. They are easy to train, famous for their patience and great with the grandkids. Golden retrievers do require consistent, hard exercise every day, but they are more than content for part of that exercise to consist of finding and retrieving balls in the backyard. Though golden retrievers can weigh up to 34 kgs and more, they still think of themselves as lap dogs. “Golden retrievers are happy to sit with you on the patio at the end of the day, with their head on your lap, watching the sunset,” Dr Kinscher-Juran says. Breed Overview Height: 54.5 to 61 cms Weight: 25 to 34 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 12 years Best hypoallergenic: Toy Poodle For seniors with allergies or respiratory issues, poodles are one of the best hypoallergenic dog breeds. Poodles have a single-layer coat that doesn’t shed (though all that beautiful, naturally curly hair requires a lot of brushing and grooming!). They come in multiple sizes, from tiny teacup poodles, that weigh between 1.8 to 2.7 kgs to small toy poodles that weigh between 2.7 to 4 kgs to miniature poodles that weigh between 6.8 to 7.7 kgs to standard poodles that weigh between 20.4 to 31.75 kgs. Like the best sort of human companion, poodles are known for both their beauty and their brains. Their high intelligence makes them easy to train (helpful for seniors) and their affectionate personality makes them easy to love. The smaller toy poodle is a top choice for seniors. Breed Overview Height: 25 cms max Weight: 1.8 to 2.7 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 18 years Best dog for those who like a clean house: Groodle A cross between poodles and golden retrievers, groodles (or goldendoodles), which weigh between 22.6 to 40 kgs, are known for possessing the best traits of both breeds. They’re loyal, obedient and loving. For seniors with allergies, or those who prefer to avoid daily vacuuming, groodles, who mostly don’t shed and are hypoallergenic, make great companions. You don’t need to have been an experienced pet owner to adopt one: Groodle’s intelligence and easy-going temperament make them easy to train. Groodles do love exercise though, especially swimming. Bonus points if you’re a senior that lives by a body of water! Breed Overview Height: 48 to 61 cms Weight: 13.6 to 20 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 15 years Best for active seniors: Westies Recognisable by their white mane and dark, almond-shaped eyes, the West Highland white terrier (aka Westie) are friendly, loving companions for active seniors. At 5.8 to 9 kgs, Westies are still small enough to handle and make good apartment dogs – as long as they get in their long, daily walks. Westies really, really like to play. Westies are no softies though: beneath their coat is a well-muscled body. Bred to be rodent killers, Westies require little pampering and they rarely shed. For seniors looking for a little bit of excitement in their days, westies will be sure to keep you on your toes. Breed Overview Height: 25.5 to 28 cms Weight: 6.8 to 9 kgs Life expectancy: 13 to 15 years Best dog that doesn't bark: Shih Tzu The name Shih Tzu means little lion, but the most fierce thing about this breed is their love for the owner. Shih Tzus bond very quickly with humans, making them great choices for seniors looking for a close canine companion. Weighing an of average 4 to 7 kgs, Shih Tzus, known for their long coats, pack a lot of personality in their small frame. They are a confident, happy-go-lucky breed with a bit of a stubborn streak. But they are less demanding and less yappy than other smaller toy dogs, making them a good choice for seniors who live in apartments. They are also not very energetic and only need a couple of short walks a day, making them perfect for non-active seniors. Breed Overview Height: 23 to 26.5 cms Weight: 4 to 7 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 18 years Easiest dog to care for: French bulldog With their big eyes, adorable scrunchy faces, and short legs, there’s a reason why French bulldogs are increasing popular today and one of the easiest dog breeds. Their gentle personality and low energy make them one of the best dogs for seniors with a less active lifestyle. These dogs are not big athletes, a walk around the block is all the exercise they need for the day. French bulldogs’ small size (they weigh about 8.5 to 12.5 kgs) and the fact that they are not big barkers or yappers also make them one of the best apartment dogs. As an additional bonus, they are also excellent cuddlers and incredibly loyal. Breed Overview Height: 28 to 33 cms Weight: Under 12 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 12 years Best guard dog: Pomeranian At 1.4 to 3 kgs, Pomeranians look like tiny puffballs. Their small size and affectionate personality make them easy to love. And their ability to remain calm in busy situations also makes them one of the best emotional support dogs, Dr Kinscher-Juran says. Pomeranians – whose hair comes in a variety of colours from white to black to cream – don’t seem to realise their small size. They are very alert, with a tendency to bark, making them excellent guard dogs for seniors. Though Pomeranians are lap dogs, they also have an independent streak, so active seniors don’t need to worry about Pomeranians clinging, like a barnacle, to them all day. Sometimes it’s good to have space! Breed Overview Height: 15 to 17.5 cms Weight: 1.4 to 3 kgs Life expectancy: 12 to 16 years Best dog for seniors with a backyard: Beagle For seniors who love being outdoors and would like an impetus to exercise more, beagles are a good choice. Energetic, active and sociable, beagles love to play and take long walks. And unlike other smaller dogs, they don’t require a ton of babysitting. They’re fine – content even – being left alone for a while. For seniors who don’t love playing beautician, beagles, with their short, dense, wash-and-wear coat, are a good choice. They are pretty low maintenance when it comes to grooming. Younger beagles require consistent exercise – so seniors might find adopting an older beagle a less physically demanding choice, Dr Kinscher-Juran says. Breed Overview Height: 33 to 38 cms Weight: 9 to 13.6 kgs Life expectancy: 10 to 15 years Image credits: Shutterstock This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/pets/15-best-dogs-for-seniors?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Family & Pets

Beauty ideals were as tough in the middle ages as they are now

After turning up at this year’s Grammys, Madonna was subjected to a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/madonna-now-grammys-facelift-recent-b2279848.html">vitriolic online attack</a> over her appearance, particularly what was deemed her excessive use of plastic surgery. The irrepressible 64-year-old instantly hit back, saying, Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. I look forward to many more years of subversive behaviour pushing boundaries." It’s a familiar story. Standards of beauty have been embedded in different cultures, in varying forms, from time immemorial. The standards that women and, increasingly, all people are expected to meet to embody a certain level of beauty, are often based on binary notions of idealised forms of femininity or masculinity, or both. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Look how cute i am now that swelling from surgery has gone down. Lol 😂 <a href="https://t.co/jd8hQyi2Az">pic.twitter.com/jd8hQyi2Az</a> — Madonna (@Madonna) <a href="https://twitter.com/Madonna/status/1627713003238965248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote> Women’s bodies have been pathologised throughout history, from Plato’s notion of the “<a href="https://www.rcn.org.uk/library-exhibitions/Womens-health-wandering-womb">wandering womb</a>” which was used to account for every female physical and emotional ailment. In medieval <a href="https://juliamartins.co.uk/what-is-the-humoral-theory">humoral theory</a>, women were considered <a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2011/08/the-female-body-in-medieval-europe-theories-of-physicality-versus-practical-gynecology/">cold and wet in constitution</a>, and more prone to certain afflictions. The association of beauty with health, and ugliness with disease, has been taken up in more recent feminist debate over the modern cultural obsession with women’s appearance as an <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/beauty-sick/renee-engeln/9780062469786">epidemic</a>. It’s no wonder that instances of anxiety, depression, eating disorders and dysmorphia can all be connected to modern – and indeed, pre-modern – people’s experience of beauty standards. In her 1991 book <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/oct/18/classics.shopping">The Beauty Myth</a>, Naomi Wolf argued that the standards of western female beauty were used as a weapon to stagnate the progress of women. But in medieval culture, such pressures were doubly weighted, since beauty was closely aligned with morality: beauty was associated with goodness and ugliness with evil. Such cultural associations are addressed by Eleanor Janega in her book <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-once-and-future-sex-eleanor-janega-in-conversation-with-cat-jarman/london-gower-street">The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society</a>. In her lively exploration of medieval women’s social roles, Janega shows how beauty “was a key to power”, crucially connected to wealth, privilege, youth and maidenhood – to create “a ‘perfect’ sort of femininity”. Janega explores medieval gender norms to consider the ways that women’s roles have – and haven’t – changed. Focusing on female beauty standards and contradictions, sex and female sexuality, and women’s roles as workers, wives and mothers, Janega reflects on what this study of women in the middle ages means now, "Turns out that the way we think about and treat women is socially malleable, and while some of our constructs have changed, we continue to treat women as inferior to men." <h2>Weaponising beauty</h2> I’ve recently been examining a type of weaponised beauty that some religious women in the middle ages appeared to practise to emphasise the more superior beauty of their inner selves. In BBC Radio Wales’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001l1rl">The Idea</a>, I explored how some medieval saints subverted standards of “traditional” female beauty to avoid living lives that would hinder their chastity and spiritual goals: in other words, taint the beauty of their souls. Some of their tactics were extreme. In a female monastery in the Scottish borders, the abbess was a woman known as Æbbe the Younger, daughter of Æthelred, King of Northumbria. As marauding Vikings attacked the monastery, and terrified of being defiled, Æbbe attempted to repel them by disfiguring her face, "The abbess, with an heroic spirit… took a razor, and with it cut off her nose, together with her upper lip unto the teeth, presenting herself a horrible spectacle to those who stood by. Filled with admiration at this admirable deed, the whole assembly followed her maternal example." From Roger of Wendover’s Flowers of History, Comprising the History of England Though the nuns’ mutilated faces did cause the Vikings to flee, they later returned to set fire to the monastery, burning the women alive. But in their martyrdom, the nuns’ souls remained beautiful and untainted, which was what they had desired. In 15th-century legend, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilgefortis">Wilgefortis</a>, a young Christian Portuguese princess determined to live in perpetual virginity, was commanded by her parents to marry a pagan Sicilian king. At her refusal, her father had her imprisoned and tortured. Wilgefortis starved herself in penance and prayed to God that she should be disfigured. Her prayers were answered and she miraculously grew a moustache and a beard. Horrified at the loss of her beauty the suitor rejected her, and her furious father ordered that she be crucified. As she died on the cross, Wilgefortis beseeched other women to pray through her to be delivered from vanity and erotic desire. Wilgefortis’s metamorphosis from female-coded standards of medieval beauty to a type of <a href="https://www.health.com/mind-body/transmasculine">transmasculinity</a> offered by her beard and moustache, is, like Æbbe’s self-mutilation, an act of physiological resistance. Wilgefortis prays for deformity and God bestows her with the facial hair that repulses her suitor and secures the beauty of her soul. <h2>Eternal beauty?</h2> Today’s cosmetic surgeons, in supplying women like Madonna with surgical answers to their supposed aesthetic problems, might also serve as God-like figures in the continuing quest to adhere more closely to the standards of beauty that medieval saints like Æbbe and Wilgefortis harnessed in order to subvert. In fact, the “gods” of cosmetic surgery, like the God of medieval Christianity, somehow enable their worshippers to match their outward appearance with their inner feelings – the states of their souls – allowing them to make peace with the variants of beauty that they desire. As in the medieval past, women today negotiate the parameters of beauty in which they have been historically confined, embracing change and letting their souls spill out as they decide what beauty means for them and their bodies. The pursuit of youth and beauty – and beauty within – is rarely without pain, but as we know, that makes for a powerful weapon. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/beauty-ideals-were-as-tough-in-the-middle-ages-as-they-are-now-203751" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Beauty & Style

Slim and skinny: how access to TV is changing beauty ideals in rural Nicaragua

Think about the last time you watched a film or picked up a magazine. Chances are the majority of models and actresses were young, beautiful and slim – or even underweight. Research shows that in films and TV programmes heavier characters are more likely to be lower status, the target of jokes and are less likely to be <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/276547">lead or romantic characters</a>. This sends a very clear message: that thinness is normal and desirable. For many young people, this emphasis on extreme thinness in women seems normal. But it’s actually relatively new and seems to have arisen in parallel with the growing cultural dominance of mass media – films, television and magazines. Models, for instance, became <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1980.47.2.483">thinner across the latter half of the 20th century</a>, and are now <a href="https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/evolution-miss-universe/">considerably slimmer</a> than depictions of female beauty in preceding eras. Just as in the past when the development of shape-altering garments <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0123284">changed ideas about body shape</a>, the mass media now seems to have changed ideas about body size. Current body ideals in Western Europe and North America are also significantly slimmer than in other cultural groups, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513899000070">Tanzanian hunter-gatherers</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513806000584">black South Africans</a> or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144507000769">rural Malaysians</a>. And it’s been argued this large gap between the ideal female figure and most women’s own bodies is a key factor in the endemic levels of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in countries such as <a href="https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/jscp.2009.28.1.9">the UK</a>. Body dissatisfaction and <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/yco/2016/00000029/00000006/art00006">rates of disordered eating are increasing globally</a>, and the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-004-1067-5">spread of mass media may be one reason why</a>. But it’s a challenge to link increasing media access with changing body ideals – because as populations gain more access to media, they also change in other ways. They may become more urbanised, wealthier and have better access to nutrition – all of which can lead to <a href="http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/normanli/Swamietal2010.pdf">differences in body ideals</a>. The Nicaragua project This is why we have spent three years running a <a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/l.g.boothroyd/NEBP/">research project</a> in an area of rural Nicaragua – where access to mass media is often unrelated to urbanisation or nutrition. The government in Nicaragua has been increasing electrification of the rural Caribbean coast. This has led to a region where very similar neighbouring villages differ in whether or not the residents have access to mains electricity – and whether they can run televisions. There are no magazines in this region. And at the time of our research, very few residents had access to smart phones, making television viewing a good measure of total media access. We recruited 300 participants from seven villages around the region. Some villages had regular electricity supplies, others did not. Because the region is very ethnically diverse, we also balanced our sample across four main ethnic groups. Generally among our participants, those of Mestizo ethnicity – who have the highest levels of European heritage – tend to prefer slimmer figures than those of more indigenous or Afro-Caribbean heritage, such as the Miskitu, Garifuna and Creoles. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000224">Our research found</a> that above and beyond ethnicity, those who watched more television preferred slimmer bodies. Specifically, our analysis suggested that people who watched approximately three hours of TV a week preferred a body one full point slimmer on the <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/">Body Mass Index</a> than someone who didn’t watch TV. On a woman of average height, that’s about a difference of three kilos. We also found the more people watched TV, the slimmer their preferred female body size became. This was true for both men and women. Changing ideals Over the three years, we also collected data from a small village without electricity. For a short period of time, one house in this village had a small TV powered by a solar panel. Residents were also able to watch TV for short periods of time if they travelled to other communities. We found that over the three years, villagers tended to favour thinner figures when they had been able to watch more TV, suggesting that real-time change may be happening in these communities. When we showed residents of two villages without TV images of typical or plus size media models, their preferences shifted in the immediate aftermath of viewing these images towards thinner figures. Again this was true for both men and women. By studying one population in depth, and by also having previously ruled out evidence for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-08653-z">impacts of nutrition in this population</a>, we have been able to give the strongest evidence to date that visual media really does change people’s perception of the ideal female body. Our findings also support the argument that increasing global rates of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders are driven at least in part <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-004-1067-5">by the expansion of globalised mass media</a>. Of course, television is in many respects a valuable and important source of information. Our participants considered that besides entertainment, television gave them a vital link to the rest of Nicaragua, to political news, and lifesaving services such as storm warnings. But while it’s important that such benefits be maximised, threats to women’s body image must be minimised. Body positive education can help here, and this is something <a href="http://community.dur.ac.uk/l.g.boothroyd/NEBP/wellcome_body.html">we are working on with local groups</a>. But ultimately, media producers and commissioners must do a better job of diversifying their content to reflect a range of sizes and body types. Written by Lynda Boothroyd. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/slim-and-skinny-how-access-to-tv-is-changing-beauty-ideals-in-rural-nicaragua-128717">The Conversation.</a>

Beauty & Style

The internet's founder wants to "fix the web" but his proposal isn't ideal

On March 12, the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web, the internet’s founder Tim Berners-Lee said we needed to “<a href="https://webfoundation.org/2019/03/web-birthday-30/">fix the web</a>”. The statement attracted considerable interest. However, a resulting manifesto released on Sunday, and dubbed the <a href="https://contractfortheweb.org/">Contract for the Web</a>, is a major disappointment. Endorsed by more than 80 corporations and non-government organisations, the campaign seeks a return to the “<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/10/1301496/">open web</a>” of the 1990s and early 2000s – one largely free of corporate control over content. While appealing in theory, the contract glosses over several key challenges. It doesn’t account for the fact that most internet content is now accessed through a small number of digital platforms, such as Google and Facebook. Known as the “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/129830/">platformisation of the internet</a>”, it’s this phenomenon which has generated many of the problems the web now faces, and this is where the focus should be. An undercooked proposal Berners-Lee identified major obstacles threatening the future of the web, including the circulation of malicious content, “<a href="https://webfoundation.org/2019/03/web-birthday-30/">perverse incentives</a>” that promote clickbait, and the growing polarisation of online debate. Having played a central role in the web’s development, he promised to use his influence to promote positive digital change. He said the Contract for the Web was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/24/tim-berners-lee-unveils-global-plan-to-save-the-internet">a revolutionary statement</a>. In fact, it’s deeply conservative. Berners-Lee claims it’s the moral responsibility of everybody to “save the web”. This implies the solution involves engaging civic morality and corporate ethics, rather than enacting laws and regulations that make digital platforms more publicly accountable. The contract views governments, not corporations, as the primary threat to an open internet. But governments’ influence is restricted to building digital infrastructure (such as fast broadband), facilitating online access, removing illegal content and maintaining data security. Missing links The contract doesn’t prescribe <a href="https://www.iicom.org/intermedia/intermedia-past-issues/intermedia-jul-2019/taking-aim-at-big-tech">measures</a> to address power misuse by digital platforms, or a solution to the <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/T3-Report-Tackling-the-Information-Crisis.pdf">power imbalance</a> between such platforms and content creators. This is despite <a href="https://www.iicom.org/intermedia/intermedia-past-issues/intermedia-july-2018/platforms-on-trial">more than 50 public inquiries</a> currently taking place worldwide into the power of digital platforms. The most obvious gaps in the contract are around the obligations of digital platform companies. And while there are welcome commitments to strengthening user privacy and data protection, there’s no mention of how these problems emerged in the first place. It doesn’t consider whether the harvesting of user data to maximise advertising revenue is not the result of “<a href="https://contractfortheweb.org/principles/principle-5-respect-and-protect-peoples-privacy-and-personal-data-to-build-online-trust/">user interfaces and design patterns</a>”, but is instead baked into the <a href="https://www.hiig.de/en/data-colonialism-nick-couldry-digital-society/">business models of digital platform companies</a>. Its proposals are familiar: address the digital divide between rich and poor, improve digital service delivery, improve diversity in hiring practices, pursue human-centered digital design, and so forth. But it neglects to ask whether the internet may now be less open because a small number of conglomerates are dominating the web. There is <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Digital%20Platforms%20Inquiry%20-%20Final%20report%20-%20part%201.pdf">evidence</a> that platforms such as Google and Facebook dominate search and social media respectively, and the digital advertising connected with these. Not a civic responsibility Much of the work in the contract seems to fall onto citizens, who are expected to “<a href="https://contractfortheweb.org/principles/principle-9-fight-for-the-web/">fight for the web</a>”. They bear responsibility for maintaining proper online discourse, protecting vulnerable users, using their privacy settings properly and generating creative content (presumably unpaid and non-unionized). The contract feels like a document from the late 1990s, forged in the spirit of “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/wired25-louis-rossetto-tech-militant-optimism/">militant optimism</a>” about the internet. It offers only <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/016344387009001005">pseudo-regulation</a> for tech giants. It also implies if tech giants can demonstrate greater diversity in hiring practices, allow users to better manage their privacy settings, and make some investments in disadvantaged communities, then they can avoid serious regulatory consequences. Legacies of internet culture A big question is why leading non-government organisations such as the <a href="https://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.publicknowledge.org/">Public Knowledge</a> have signed-on to such a weak contract. This may be because two elements of the original legacy of internet culture (as it started developing in the 1990s) are still applicable today. One is the view that governments present a greater threat to public interest than corporations. This leads non-governmental organisations to favour legally binding frameworks that restrain the influence of governments, rather than addressing issues of market dominance. The contract doesn’t mention, for instance, whether governments have a role in legislating to ensure digital platforms address issues of online hate speech. This is despite evidence that social media platforms are used to <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/609/60904.htm#_idTextAnchor005">spread hate, abuse and violent extremism</a>. The second is the tendency to think the internet is a different realm to society at large, so laws that apply to other aspects of the online environment are deemed inappropriate for digital platform companies. An example in Australia is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/law-should-treat-social-media-companies-as-publishers-attorney-general-20191120-p53cch.html">defamation law not being applied to digital platforms such as Facebook</a>, but being applied to the comments sections of news websites. Berners-Lee’s manifesto for the future of the web is actually more conservative than proposals coming from government regulators, such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/digital-platforms-inquiry">Digital Platforms Inquiry</a>. The ACCC is closely evaluating issues arising because of digital platforms, whereas the Contract for the Web looks wistfully back to the open web of the 1990s as a path to the future. It fails to address the changing political economy of the internet, and the rise of digital platforms. And it’s a barrier to meaningfully addressing the problems plaguing today’s web.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127793/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/terry-flew-3944">Terry Flew</a>, Professor of Communication and Creative Industries, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-internets-founder-now-wants-to-fix-the-web-but-his-proposal-misses-the-mark-127793">original article</a>.

Technology

Is there really a single ideal body shape for women?

Many scholars of Renaissance art <a href="http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/birth-of-venus.htm">tell us</a> that Botticelli’s Birth of Venus captures the tension between the celestial perfection of divine beauty and its flawed earthly manifestation. As classical ideas blossomed anew in 15th-century Florence, Botticelli could not have missed the popular <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/#H5">Neoplatonic notion</a> that contemplating earthly beauty teaches us about the divine. Evolutionary biologists aren’t all that Neoplatonic. Like most scientists, we’ve long stopped contemplating the celestial, having – to appropriate <a href="http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2011/09/16/there-is-no-need-for-god-as-a-hypothesis/">Laplace’s immortal words to Napoleon</a> – “no need of that hypothesis”. It is the messy imperfection of the real world that interests us on its own terms. My <a href="https://theconversation.com/columns/rob-brooks-1343">own speciality concerns</a> the messy conflicts that inhere to love, sex and beauty. Attempts to cultivate a simple understanding of beauty – one that can fill a 200-word magazine ad promoting age-reversing snake oil, for example – tend to consistently come up short. Waist to hip Nowhere does the barren distinction between biology and culture grow more physically obvious than in the discussion of women’s body shapes and attractiveness. The biological study of body shape has, for two decades, been preoccupied with the ratio of waist to hip circumference. With clever experimental manipulations of line drawings, Devendra Singh <a href="http://www.femininebeauty.info/i/singh.pdf">famously demonstrated</a> that images of women with waists 70% as big as their hips tend to be most attractive. This 0.7:1 waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), it turns out, also reflects a distribution of abdominal fat associated with good <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3874840">health</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=w2qTGfoAAAAJ&citation_for_view=w2qTGfoAAAAJ:TQgYirikUcIC">fertility</a>. Singh also showed that Miss America pageant winners and Playboy playmates tended to have a WHR of 0.7 despite changes in the general slenderness of these two samples of women thought to embody American beauty ideals. Singh’s experiments were repeated in a variety of countries and societies that differ in both average body shape and apparent ideals. The results weren’t unanimous, but a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 came up as most attractive more often than not. The idea of an optimal ratio is so appealing in its simplicity that it became a staple factoid for magazines such as <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/health-lifestyle/healthy-eating/2010/8/female-attractiveness-relates-to-waist-size/#_">Cosmo</a>. There’s plenty to argue about with waist-hip ratio research. Some researchers have found that other indices, like <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691155/">Body Mass Index</a> (BMI) explain body attractiveness more effectively. But others reject the reductionism of measures like WHR and BMI altogether. This rejection reaches its extremes in the notion that ideas of body attractiveness are entirely <a href="http://www.socwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/fact_04-2008-wom-size.pdf">culturally constructed and arbitrary</a>. Or, more sinisterly, designed by our capitalist overlords in the diet industry to be inherently unattainable. The evidence? The observation that women’s bodies differ, on average, between places or times. That’s the idea animating the following video, long on production values, short on scholarship and truly astronomic on the number of hits (21 million-plus at the time of writing): <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xrp0zJZu0a4"></iframe></div> This rather questionable video, called ‘Women’s Ideal Body Types Throughout History’, is getting a lot of airplay on YouTube. I note that Botticelli’s Venus looks more at home in the 20th Century than among the more full-figured Renaissance “ideals”. So do the Goddesses and Graces in <a href="http://www.uffizi.org/artworks/la-primavera-allegory-of-spring-by-sandro-botticelli/">La Primavera</a>. Perhaps there was room for more than one kind of attractive body in the Florentine Renaissance? Or is the relationship between attractiveness and body shape less changeable and more variegated than videos like the one above would have us believe? Not that I’m down on body shape diversity. Despite the fact that there seems to be only one way to make a supermodel, real women differ dramatically and quite different body types can be equally attractive. The science of attractiveness must grapple with variation, both within societies and among cultures. Enter the BodyLab For some years our <a href="http://www.robbrooks.net/">research group</a> has wrestled with exactly these issues, and with the fact that bodies vary in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20840313">so many more dimensions</a> than just their waists and their hips. To that end, we established the <a href="http://www.bodylab.biz">BodyLab</a> project, a “digital ecosystem” in which people from all over the internet rate the attractiveness of curious-looking bodies like the male example below. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73884/original/image-20150305-1931-14hs705.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73884/original/image-20150305-1931-14hs705.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Example image from the BodyLab ‘digital ecosystem’. The VW Beetle is provided as the universal symbol of something-slightly-shorter-than-an-adult-human. Faces pixellated to preserve any grey people’s anonymity. Rob Brooks/BodyLab.biz We call it a “digital ecosystem” not to maximise pretentiousness, but because this experiment involved multiple generations of selection and evolution. We started with measurements of 20 American women, a sample representing a wide variety of body shapes. We then “mutated” those measures, adding or subtracting small amounts of random variation to each of 24 traits. Taking these newly mutated measures we built digital bodies, giving them an attractive middle-grey skin tone in an attempt to keep variation in skin colour, texture etc out of the already complex story. <blockquote> If you want to help out with our second study, on male bodies, visit <a href="http://www.bodylab.biz/Experiments.aspx">BodyLab</a> and click through to Body Shape Study and then Rate Males (Generation 6). </blockquote> This all involved considerable technologic innovation, resulting in an experiment unlike any other. We had a population of bodies (120 per generation) that we could select after a few thousand people had rated them for attractiveness. We then “bred” from the most attractive half of all models and released the new generation into the digital ecosystem. What did we find? In a paper just published at <a href="http://bit.ly/1EOQcOl">Evolution & Human Behavior</a>, the most dramatic result was that the average model became more slender with each generation. Almost every measure of girth decreased dramatically, whereas legs and arms evolved to be longer. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73901/original/image-20150305-1942-103dem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73901/original/image-20150305-1942-103dem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> In eight generations, the average body became more slender. Waist, seat, collar, bust, underbust, forearm, bicep, calf and thigh girth all decreased by more than one standard deviation. At the same time, leg length (inseam) rose by 1.4 standard deviations. Rob Brooks That may not seem surprising, particularly because the families “bred” from the most overweight individuals at the start of the experiment were eliminated in the first few generations. But, after that, more families remained in the digital ecosystem, surviving generation after generation of selection, than we would have expected if there was a single most attractive body type. The Darwinian process we imposed on our bodies had started acting on the mutations we added during the breeding process. More meaningful than the mean Those “mutations” that we introduced allowed bodies to evolve free from all the developmental constraints that apply to real-world bodies. For example, leg lengths could evolve independently of arm lengths. Waists could get smaller even as thighs got bigger. When we examined those five families that lasted longest as our digital ecosystem evolved, we observed a couple of interesting nuances. First, selection targeted waist size itself, rather than waist-hip ratio. No statistical model involving hip size (either on its own or in waist-hip ratio) could come close to explaining attractiveness as well as waist size alone. Our subjects liked the look of slender models with especially slender waists. There was nothing magical about a 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio. Second, within attractive families, which were the more slender families to begin with, evolution bucked the population-wide trend. These bodies began evolving to be more shapely, with bigger busts and more substantial curves. It turns out there’s more than one way to make an attractive body, and those different body types evolve to be well-integrated. That’s a liberating message for most of us: evolutionary biology has more to offer our understanding of diversity than the idea that only one “most attractive” body (or face, or personality) always wins out. What about the cultural constructionists? Are body ideals arbitrary, or tools of the patriarchal-commercial complex? Our results suggest that the similarities between places, and even between male and female raters, are pretty strong: the 60,000 or so people who viewed and rated our images held broadly similar ideas of what was hot and what was not. But their tastes weren’t uniform. We think most individuals could see beauty in variety, if not in the full scope of diversity on offer. What’s cool about our evolving bodies, however, is that we can run the experiment again and again. We can do so with different groups of subjects, or even using the same subjects before and after they’ve experienced some kind of intervention (perhaps body-image consciousness-raising?). I’m hoping we can use them to look, in unprecedented depth, at the intricate ways in which experience, culture and biology interact.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38432/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Director, Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, UNSW. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/is-there-really-a-single-ideal-body-shape-for-women-38432" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

Body

8 ideal cities for your next solo travel

The beauty of solo travel is that you can choose what you want to see and when. Here are some of the safest cities in the world guaranteed to meet the solo traveller’s needs. 1. Hoi An, Vietnam When travelling alone, people tend to form new friendships more easily and Hoi An is a great place to do so. The city offers up the best of everything: beaches, historical landmarks, lavish hotels and more. With so much to do and so many friendly locals to meet, you’ll never feel lonely. 2. Auckland, New Zealand Auckland is known for being one of the friendliest cities in the world, according to surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, so the single traveller will feel right at home. An affordable city with lots to see, such as the Civic Theatre, the Sky Tower and the harbour foreshore, Auckland is a wonderful place to visit on your own. 3. Vienna, Austria One of Europe’s finest and most beautiful cities, Vienna has so much to offer, you can’t possibly get bored. You can opt for a museum tour, a morning exploring historic St. Stephen’s Cathedral, a cruise of the Danube, or visit St. Anton, known for being the best ski party city in Europe. 4. Napa, California While many consider Napa to be a romantic destination for two, it’s also an attractive spot for the solo traveller. With its beautiful vineyards, Napa is the perfect getaway from the everyday, where you can enjoy fine wines and five-star accommodation. Many hotels are equipped with private pools and lounging areas, so you can enjoy a relaxing environment. 5. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Travelling alone here will allow you the luxury of soaking in the beautiful and peaceful surroundings, affordable luxury hotels and fine cuisine, without worrying for your personal safety. Plus, the city is rich in architecture, magnificent mosques and historic sites. 6. Lahaina, Hawaii Located in West Maui, Lahaina is a perfect destination for the single traveller. Hawaii is considered a safe place to visit, and not only are the beaches serene and beautiful, but there is no shortage of adult-only resorts for guaranteed relaxation. A plethora of five-star hotels offer beach access, private pools and spa amenities. Shopping and fine dining are only a skip away from most hotels along the beach. Single travellers may also enjoy taking some surfing or kayaking lessons. 7. Sydney, Australia In case there weren’t enough reasons to visit Sydney (historical landmarks, beautiful sights, beaches, botanical gardens, and more), it’s also a safe spot to visit solo. Mild temperatures, fine restaurants and a fantastic nightlife for singles are a few more bonuses to visiting this amazing city. 8. Singapore As Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world, it is ideal for a solo escapade. There’s no shortage of good hotels and the locals and hotel staff are known for their friendly nature. Take a walk through Chinatown, spend a day at Jurong Bird Park, hit the shops on Orchard Road or simply watch the world go by at Clarke Quay. Written by Maria Barillaro. This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/travel/destinations/Ideal-Cities-for-the-Solo-Traveller">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRN93V">here’s our best subscription offer.</a> <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

International Travel

Princess Diana voted as the “ideal mother”

When the Church of England ran its UK Mother’s Day poll to crown the “ideal mother”, they certainly didn’t expect this result. After all, wouldn’t churchgoers pick Jesus’ own mother, the Virgin Mary? But no, the 2,000 respondents to the <a href="http://www.comresglobal.com/polls/church-of-england-mothering-sunday-poll/" target="_blank">ComRes</a> survey, which asked, “Thinking of well-known mothers, either fictional or real, or from the past or present – what one person would you name as the ideal mother?” chose none other than the late Princess Diana. Princes William and Harry’s mother came out on top with five per cent of the vote, closely followed by “my own mother”, then Mother Teresa, the Queen, Michelle Obama, Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series and Mary Poppins. Surprisingly, the Virgin Mary came in at eighth, with just one per cent of the vote. The Duchess of Cambridge was also low on the list, with just 11 votes. The survey also asked respondents to share the most important thing their mother ever did for them, and the top answer (with 33 per cent of the vote) was, “She was always there to support me when I needed her.” Rounding out the top three responses were, “She taught me to do the right thing,” with 18 per cent of the vote, and “She showed me the value of hard work," with 11 per cent of the vote. Reverend Dr Sandra Millar, head of life events at the Church of England, said it was refreshing to see people appreciating their mothers beyond the usual stereotypes of cooking and cleaning. “Being there for you, teaching and modelling good values and working hard are qualities that inspire and shape lives,” she told <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/09/princess-diana-beats-virgin-mary-named-nations-ideal-mother/" target="_blank">The Telegraph</a>. Who is the one person you would name as the "ideal mother"? Tell us in the comments below.

Family & Pets

The dangerous ideal of mental health

Simon Keller is a professor of Philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington. We are in the midst of a significant change in the way we think about mental health. For most of medical history, mental health has been understood as the absence of mental disorder – and any progress in mental health has meant progress in understanding the varieties of mental illness and other forms of mental distress, and how they can be prevented and treated. Today, however, mental health is increasingly understood as a positive state: as something to aspire to. Led by the new academic field of positive psychology and by popular trends like the mindfulness movement, we are coming to see mental health as an ideal that we can work to achieve. As you might go to the gym or change your diet to get a healthy body, people now will meditate or practice mindfulness or write gratitudes, with the goal of attaining a healthy mind. This new positive conception of mental health should be treated with suspicion. Beyond our understanding of mental illnesses and other negative mental conditions, we do not have much of a clue about what mental health is. We have a decent understanding of bodily health, because we have a decent understanding of the function of the body and its parts. Lungs are for breathing; legs are for walking; a heart is for pumping blood. Mostly, a body is healthy if its parts perform their functions well. But what is the function of the human mind? What is the true purpose of our thoughts, feelings, emotions and beliefs? We might find the function of the human mind in its evolutionary history, in a story about what the human mind was selected to do. But it is doubtful that evolution selected us for mental health. We are not designed by evolution to be stress-free, well-adjusted, tranquil and compassionate. Rage, jealousy, self-doubt and cruelty are all equally components of the evolved human mind. What helped us to survive evolutionary selection does not guarantee a healthy life in the modern world. A different story about the function of the human mind can be found at the beginnings of Western philosophy, in Aristotle. Humans are special, Aristotle says, because humans are rational, and so the function of the human mind is to display excellence in rationality. As Aristotle is aware, however, this story raises as many questions as it answers. To explain what it takes to achieve excellence in rationality, we need an account of good human reasoning, and this is a matter of values. The ideal of mental health quickly becomes a moral ideal. Many public health bodies see mental health simply as happiness, or as "wellbeing". The World Health Organisation defines mental health expansively, saying that a mentally healthy person "realises his or her own potential", "can work productively and fruitfully", and "is able to make a contribution to his or her community", among other things. That definition sounds benign, but in its way, it is quite judgmental. Most of us probably do not realise our own potential; do we then fall short of full mental health? Why connect the healthy mind so closely with productive work? And if you are unable to contribute to your community, perhaps the problem lies with the community, not with your mind. No matter how it is understood, a positive conception of mental health always expresses a moral or political ideal, entailing a view about how humans should live and how we should relate to each other. People of different ideologies, religions, and cultures will naturally disagree about what true mental health looks like. But that is not how the positive conception of mental health is usually presented. The positive conception of mental health is dangerous, because it takes the concept of health, which we usually treat as objective and scientific, and applies it to the questions of how we should think and how we should live. It hides moral and political ideals beneath a veneer of medical inevitability. It is one thing to understand and treat mental illness and distress. It is another thing to choose a vision of human life and present it as the ideal of mental health. Before thinking about what it means to achieve mental health, you need to think about what kind of person you would like to be. Mindfulness or meditation might help you become the person you want to be. So might playing bridge, reading novels, hanging out with friends, doing well at your job, helping others, playing computer games or watching cricket. None of these activities has an intrinsically greater claim to be the key to mental health. The question of how to achieve mental health comes down ultimately to an ancient, difficult, personal and thoroughly moral question: the question of how we ought to live. It is not a question that science or medicine can answer. Written by Simon Keller. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/">Stuff.co.nz</a>. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2017/02/signs-you-are-ready-for-a-big-change/">4 signs you’re ready for a big change</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2017/01/margaret-cunningham-on-time-to-do-nothing/">In praise of doing nothing</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2017/01/how-to-focus-on-what-is-important/">How to focus on what’s important</a>

Mind

Beach bush caravan makes the ideal hideaway

The Mornington Peninsula is one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations and when you see the view offered by this caravan hideaway it’s easy to see see why. Providing easy access to some of the best beaches, inland wineries and outdoor activities in the country, this <a href="https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/3499537/?af=61160407&c=apac_au_over60_beachbush" target="_blank">beach and bush caravan hideaway</a> has a little bit of something for everyone, and provides comfortable, private holiday lodgings for any traveller. Spend your days discovering some of Australia’s most scenic walking trails, exploring the beautiful bayside, sampling local produce at craft markets or taking a dip in the wild ocean beaches. You’re also close to the region’s famous hot springs to relax and unwind. The caravan itself is beautifully appointed and is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a busy day spent sampling some of the greatest activities on the Mornington Peninsula. Whether you’re planning to stay for a week, weekend or maybe even longer, this <a href="https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/3499537/?af=61160407&c=apac_au_over60_beachbush" target="_blank">beach and bush caravan hideaway</a> is the perfect accommodation. To find out more <a href="https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/3499537/?af=61160407&c=apac_au_over60_beachbush" target="_blank">click here</a>. Even if you’re not headed to Victoria any time soon, make sure you scroll through the gallery above to see just how incredible these properties are. <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/?af=61160407&c=apac_au_over60" target="_blank">Whether you want to make money by renting your place or to find affordable accommodation options and stretch your travel budget further, head over to Airbnb now and have a look around.</a> Related links: <a href="/travel/accommodation/2016/08/tassie-apple-pickers-cottage-charming-writers-retreat/">Tassie apple picker’s cottage now a charming writer’s retreat</a> <a href="/travel/accommodation/2016/07/inside-the-farm-shed-converted-into-a-luxury-rural-retreat/">Inside the farm shed converted into a luxury rural retreat</a> <a href="/travel/accommodation/2016/08/waterfront-home-with-best-view-in-tasmania/">Waterfront home with the best view in Tasmania</a>

Accommodation

Find your ideal hobby with this one tip

It’s all well and good to suggest finding a hobby to enjoy in your spare time, but what if you actually have no clue what hobbies might interest you? Try out our simple concept below to give you a starting point. Think about what you loved doing as a kid. What activities did you do where you could just lose yourself for hours? From there, you can see if you can see some common themes or ideas for how you could potentially extend on them to find a hobby to enjoy now. I loved writing stories You could look into a community college creative writing course, or even an online course. Why not enter an amateur writers competition, or go on a weekend away to brush up on your skills for writing fiction. If you are good at spelling and grammar you could also investigate opportunities to work as a proofreader. I loved playing shops Why not be a mystery shopper and get paid to window shop. You could also volunteer in a charity shop and you might enjoy sorting through the donations. You could start your own market stall if you have something that you could potentially sell to the masses. I loved being a little chef in the kitchen Why not try a cooking course? It could be a one-day course to brush up on your baking skills (scones, anyone?) or a weekly class where you learn all about a new cuisine like Indian, or a particular cooking skill such as cake decorating. I loved colouring in There is a whole new world of colouring books available for adults now. Visit any bookshop and you will find a whole new genre. Grab some good quality pencils and lose yourself for hours. You can even get some fun themed colouring in books such as The Dr Who Coloring Book or The Sweary Coloring Book For Adults. I loved climbing trees Find a local indoor rock-climbing centre and see if it still floats your boat. Or there might even be an outdoor abseiling course you could take part in. I loved reading books Why not join (or start) a book club? It could be general fiction, or you might get more interest by focusing on a particular niche such as science fiction or romance. I loved drawing pictures Nearly every town has art classes available for any level. It could be a one-day course or a weekly one, depending on your interest. Classes might include portraits, watercolour, working with charcoal, still life – anything goes. I loved running around Why not consider getting back into running, if it has fallen by the wayside? You could start a running club, or even sign up to a 5km fun run as a way to motivate you to train. I loved watching movies You could get work as a movie reviewer, or start a blog about films if you are interested in a particularly niche genre. I loved making plays You could try a production course, where they teach you the basics of how to edit your own footage into short films I loved swimming Get out and about in the great outdoors and enjoy the ocean, rock pools, or indoor pools to swim in. Join an aqua aerobics class, become a swim school teacher, or even try your hand at synchronised swimming. I loved playing in the park There are so many great nature trails and walks to enjoy, whether it’s on your own or with a group. Many walking groups venture into interesting areas such as rainforests or mountain treks. I loved riding my bike Many towns have terrific bike tracks available, so go out and explore your local area. You can also hire bikes from many tourist spots, so grab a map and use your bike to find a hard to reach beach on your next weekend away. Many gyms also offer spin classes, where an instructor guides you through a 45 minute fitness class on a stationary bike. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/relationships/2016/03/how-to-maintain-long-distance-friendship/">5 tips to maintain a long-distance friendship</a> <a href="/lifestyle/relationships/2016/03/websites-to-help-you-make-friends/">5 websites to help you make friends</a> <a href="/lifestyle/relationships/2016/02/six-stage-friendship-acquaintance-theory/">Friendship-acquaintance theory works out who your true friends are</a>

Caring

How the ideal female body shape has change over the years

There’s a reason you, at one point in your life or another, have found yourself yearning to look like a movie star. Audrey Hepburn’s slim waist and Marilyn Monroe’s curves were 10 times more enviable at the height of their fame, until the next Hollywood starlet came along with yet another enviable body type. The silhouette of the “ideal woman” has been put through a series of fun house mirrors. It also changes year over year, so the physical qualities the masses embrace today are often at odds with those from other generations. Take a look at these interesting (and witty) images that show the evolution of the “ideal” female body throughout the years. Image credits: <a href="http://greatist.com/grow/100-years-womens-body-image" target="_blank">Greatist.com</a> Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2015/11/ways-to-style-short-hair/">12 age defying ways to style short hair</a> <a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2015/10/age-defying-hair-tips/">6 tips for healthy hair that defy ageing</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/02/perfumes-that-defined-a-decade/">The most popular perfumes that defined a decade</a>

Beauty & Style

8 fabulous photos of animals that weren’t taken at the ideal moment

You know that one person in a photo who blinks, sneezes or begins to talk when the picture is being taken? And the resulting photo is awkward and unflattering because who looks good mid-sneeze? Well, these animals have all been photographed at precisely the right awkward moment and the results are much more hilarious than our human ones. Just take a look for yourself.Related links:<a href="http://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/pets/2015/02/wacky-pet-laws/" target="_blank">Wacky pet laws that will make you laugh</a><a href="http://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/pets/2015/02/cute-baby-animal-pictures/" target="_blank">10 cute baby animals guaranteed to brighten your day</a><a href="http://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/pets/2015/01/unusual-pets/" target="_blank">The strangest pets we’ve ever heard of</a>

Family & Pets

10 must-haves for an ideal retirement destination

Where will you spend your days in retirement? In the home and town where you raised your family? A quaint little unit near the coast? Or, will you relocate to be closer to where your grandchildren are growing up? For many, retirement is a new chapter in a book bursting with memories, experiences, loved ones and stories – many, many stories.It also provides a time for over-60s to think about what they want out of this next stage of their life and the lifestyle they can afford for their retirement years.Jill and Owen Weeks, founders of retirement resource Where2Now and authors of Where to retire in Australia, say that while every retiree is different, there are a few common factors many retirees want in a retirement destination, such as leisure facilities, low crime rates, accessible transport, relatively low cost of living, nice weather and good medical facilities. Finances, family, goals and retirement plans will also impact on your retirement destination, so with this in mind, here’s Jill and Owen’s list of things to consider when choosing the right retirement destination for you.  Medical facilities: How many doctors and surgeons live and practice in the area? Is there a hospital? As we age, the body starts to complain a little more. For over-60s, having a good local doctor to call on and a hospital nearby is great peace of mind should something happen that would require these services quickly.   Good weather: Do you prefer cooler or warmer temperatures? For retirees who suffer from arthritis or severe joint pain, weather will be an important factor. Cooler temperatures can exacerbate the pain and discomfort of achy bones, so places like the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast in Queensland, as well as coastal regions of Western Australia, get a tick of approval for those who don’t feel the discomfort as much in warmer weather. Having said that, people who have arthritis still decide to live in places with cooler climates, such as Tasmania, and just rug up to ensure the pain or discomfort is minimised.Get a local’s opinion: You can’t really get a feel for a place until you live there, and unless you’re planning on staying in different parts of Australia for several months at a time, it’s better to get local knowledge the quick way – ask a local! If you’re in a place for a week and you’re trying to get a sense of the community, amenities and safety of the area, strike up a conversation with another over 60 at the local supermarket. Or, visit the local RSL and ask a few people there. The great thing about Australia is that you can find friendly people anywhere, with many people only too eager to share the enthusiasm for where they live with someone who is looking to move there.Is it safe? Most cities and regional centres will have a local police station. One way to get a sense of what’s happening in the area is to read the local newspaper! Many regional and community newspapers will have a section on crime rates in the area, as well as the top stories, which almost always seem to be about one or another. However, to get the most reliable information on an area’s crime rate, ask a local police officer. Go into the police station and ask the officer on reception duties if there are any specific crime problems in the area or if Neighbourhood Watch operates in the community.Try before you buy: If you have narrowed down your list of possible places you’d like to retire to, go further than your internet research and spend five to seven days in the town or city. While not a long time, this will give you a brief glimpse into what amenities are available in the region, what the housing affordability and options are like, and, ultimately, whether you feel the town is right for you.Easy transport: This is a big one! Cars are expensive and if you’re not using it all the time, the best and most inexpensive way to get around a region or state is public transport. Is there an airport nearby? Is there good access to buses and trains? No one wants to be stuck inside their house or having to walk everywhere, so good access to transport can be a very important consideration.Affordable cost of living: Retirement income means a finite amount of money that will one day run out. To make sure it stands the test of time, settling somewhere with a good variety of shops, value-for-money cafes and restaurants, and leisure activities will make all the difference to the contentment of your retired years.Having fun: One of the (not so) secret ingredients to a long and happy life isn’t just about a healthy, well-balanced diet and regular exercise, it’s also about socialising with other people and having fun! Whether it’s having access to golf courses, bowling greens, nature walks or community centres, find what makes you happy and social, and go do it!

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10 must-haves for an ideal retirement destination

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