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Joan Bakewell

Broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell asks, in a very personal letter to her own body, how growing old has affected her sense of self.

'A Letter to my Body' is a series of essays in which five thinkers, artists and writers ask themselves how they relate to their own bodies. In this essay broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell, who has been outspoken on the way that our society perceives and treats old people, asks herself how she feels about her own body now that she has reached her seventies. She explores the cultural influences - from Shirley Temple to the image of the white wedding - which led her to grow up seeking to use her appearance to gain affection and approval and asks whether now, as she approaches old age, she has finally been liberated from society's expectations of the female body.
Producer: Charlotte Simpson.

15 minutes

Last on

Fri 10 Jun 2011 22:45

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  • Fri 1 Oct 2010 23:00
  • Fri 10 Jun 2011 22:45

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