‘It's our turn to play’: performance of girlhood as a collective response to gendered ageism

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 764-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE E. BARRETT ◽  
MIRIAM NAIMAN-SESSIONS
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Women's Status ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Women’S Status ◽  
Collective Response

ABSTRACTIn our society that values men over women and youth over old age, sexism and ageism intersect to erode women's status more rapidly and severely than men's. However, limited attention is given to women's responses to their devaluation, particularly collective efforts to either resist or accommodate dominant beliefs about ageing women. We examine membership in the Red Hat Society, an international organisation for middle-aged and older women, as a response to gendered ageism. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with members (N = 52), our analysis focuses on the group's ‘performance of girlhood’, which involves adopting children's social roles, dressing up and playing. We examine its resonance with a dominant cultural metaphor for old age as ‘second childhood’, illustrating how it not only provides opportunities for resistance to gendered ageism but also contributes to its entrenchment. The behaviours constitute a performative act that resists gendered ageism by increasing ageing women's visibility and asserting their right to leisure. However, its accommodative features reproduce inequality by valuing youth over old age and depicting older women as girls engaging in frivolous activities, which can be seen as obstructing social change.

“Care from the heart”: older minoritised women's perceptions of dignity in care

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roiyah Saltus ◽  
Christalla Pithara
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women’S Perceptions ◽  
Social Markers

Purpose – Drawing findings from a large mixed-method study on perceptions of dignity, care expectations, and support in relation to older women from Black and minority-ethnic backgrounds, the purpose of this paper is to explore the interrelationships between life course events and the multiple roles adopted by women at different points in time that have shaped their perceptions of care and their care expectations in old age. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 32 semi-structured interviews were undertaken, allowing for the collection of data on the participants’ understanding of growing old, and the meaning and attributes of care and what care with dignity “looked and felt like”. The theoretical framework is guided by a life-course approach and grounded within an intersectionality perspective. The majority of the participants were migrants. Findings – Social markers such as ethnicity and cultural identity were found to influence the participants’ understanding and expectations of care with factors such as gender identity and integration in the local community also of importance. How women felt they were perceived and “recognised” by others in their everyday lives with particular focus at the time of old age with the increased potential of loss of dignity due to declining capabilities, raised the importance of the family involvement in care provision, and perceived differences in the attributes of paid and non-paid care. The notion of “care from the heart” emerged as a key attribute of care with dignity. Care with dignity was understood as a purposeful activity, undertaken with intent to show respect and to acknowledge the participants’ sense of worth and value. Practical implications – The implications of this study are relevant in the current debate taking place at the EU level about the lived experiences of ageing migrant groups and care expectations. Originality/value – The study highlights the importance of the social nature of dignity, how wider societal structures can impact and shape how care is understood for older women of migrant and minoritised backgrounds, and the need to explore migration and care across the life course.

scholarly journals WOMEN´S PERCEPTIONS OF MENOPAUSE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE MEANING OF LIFE AND THE CULTURE O FEAR

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-21
Author(s):  
FLOR IVETT REYES GUILLÉN
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Meaning Of Life ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Culture Of Fear ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

In this article, an analysis of the results found in a research whose objective was to know the perceptions of women about menopause and its relationship with the culture of fear is presented. Information was obtained through structured interviews. The analysis focused on the recognition of its importance and the presence of fear before this stage of life. Likewise, the results were analyzed in relation to the importance of the meaning of life as the goal of human existence, without forgetting the relationship of this theme with fear. Fear was an agent of control of our aspirations and the identification of our scope. Important results were obtained in relation to both the fear of old age and the fear of death. A group of women under the age of forty and a group of women over the age of 40 years were interviewed. The young women who participated in the study expressed fear of death, and they are saddened to leave unfinished projects; while the fear reflected by older women generates that same sadness but directed only to the purely familiar aspects.

scholarly journals Conception of Ageing: Perspective of the Young and the Elderly

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ms. Tanya Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Multidimensional Process

‘Ageing’ is a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. There occurs systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people because they are old. Ageist attitudes may perpetuate in many ways leading to a variety of psychological consequences. The present study aims to explore qualitatively; myths, attitudes and stereotypes towards old age. A sample of 10 participants was selected; five each from the age group of 18 to 30 years and 65 to 85 years, semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data was subjected to thematic analysis. Findings indicate certain commonalities and differences in the ways the two age- varying groups perceive ageing which has an implication on the relationship between the two groups.

Country Rankings of Women's Status: An Alternative Index

1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (4III) ◽  
pp. 1025-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmeen Mohiuddln
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Composite Index ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Women's Status ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Women’S Status ◽  
Country Rankings ◽  
Population Crisis ◽  
Status Of Women

The purpose of the present paper is to formulate a composite index of the status of women and to rank both developed and developing countries on the basis of that index. This index is presented as an alternative or complement to the current status of women index, published by the Population Crisis Committee (PCC) and used by the World Bank and the United Nations, which focuses on indicators measuring health, education, employment, marriage and childbearing, and social equality. The paper argues that these indicators have a poverty-bias and measure women's status in terms of structural change rather than in terms of their welfare vis-ii-vis men. The PCC index is also based on the implicit assumption that women's status in developing countries ought to be defined in a similar way as in developed countries, thus including primarily only those indicators which are more relevant for developed countries. To remedy these defects, the paper presents an alternative composite index, hereafter labelled the Alternative Composite (AC) index, based on many more indicators reflecting women's issues in both developed and developing countries. The results of the statistical analysis show that the ranking of countries based on the AC index is significantly different from the PCC index.

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