Social Identity in Later Life: A Situational Approach to Understanding Old Age Stigma

1987 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Luken
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Category ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

Social identity it a product of emergent definitional processes occurring in socially defined situations. This article presents a situational approach to understanding an aspect of social identity in later life—the social stigma of old age. Social stigma is conceptualized as an attribute which is perceived to be discrediting, incongruent with expectations, and non-pivotal in regard to the cluster of attributes associated with a specific social category. A typology of situations, based on their potential for producing the stigmatization of old age, is presented. Additionally, stigmatization in these situations is influenced by the following: commitment and legitimation, generational contacts, performance norms, and gender. Implications of a situational approach to the investigation of old age are discussed.

The Social Context and Resources of the Unmarried in Old Age

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat M. Keith
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Role Transitions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course

A model of singleness in later life was developed to show how the social context may influence the personal and social resources of older, unmarried persons. The unmarried (especially the divorced) will be an increasing proportion of the aged population in the future, and they will require more services than will the married. Role transitions of the unmarried over the life course, finances, health, and social relationships of older singles are discussed with implications for practice and future research.

Ageing and gender

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Chris Gilleard ◽  
Paul Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Bonding Capital

This chapter begins by considering the distinction between sex and gender. The latter constitutes the source of the social division between men and women considered as social beings. It serves as both a reflection of division and inequality and a source of difference and identity. The chapter then explores the framing of this division in terms of patriarchy and the inequalities that are organised by and structured within the relations of work and of social reproduction. It focuses next upon the consequences of such a division, first in terms of both financial assets and resources and then in terms of social relational capital, drawing upon Putnam’s distinction between bridging and bonding capital. It then considers other sources of difference that become more salient in later life, in terms of health illness and longevity. The chapter ends with the role of gender in representing later life, and the role of later life in representing gender. It concludes by distinguishing between gender as a structure shaping third age culture, and gender as a constituent in the social imaginary of the fourth age.

Beauvoir, Simone de (1908–86)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella Sandford
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Feminist Philosophy ◽  
Second Sex ◽  
Historical Investigation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Political Essays ◽  
The 1960S

Beauvoir was an existentialist philosopher, novelist and writer. Her early philosophical work (including The Ethics of Ambiguity, 1947) attempted to develop an existentialist ethics, rethinking the ideas of freedom, responsibility and action through the prism of the self–other relation. Her work helped to shift existential thought towards a greater emphasis on embodiment and the analysis of oppression. This approach culminated in The Second Sex (1949), an interdisciplinary study of the oppression and situation of women. This is both a historical investigation into the social conditions that cast women as 'Other' and second to men and a philosophical (existential and phenomenological) account of the lived experience of 'feminine' existence. The Second Sex is of outstanding importance for feminist philosophy and the philosophy of sex and gender, as well as being a major influence on the women's movement since the 1960s. Beauvoir is also well known for her philosophical novels and plays, political essays, travel writing and published letters. Her last book, Old Age (1970), is one of very few philosophical works on ageing and old age. She was co-founder (1945) and lifetime editor of the important political and philosophical journal Les temps modernes. As a prominent public intellectual she was an influential supporter of many leftist and, in later life, feminist causes.

The sociology of ageing

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Ricca Edmondson
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Course Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Life Course Development ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Mutual Care ◽  
Theoretical Analyses

This chapter begins with an overview of the contrasting phenomena that need to be reconciled within the sociology of ageing. It stresses respects in which ageing itself is a social phenomenon, arguing that they reveal deep social ambiguities and contestations in connection with the human life-course. It then examines both threats and resources associated with globalized aspects of contemporary ageing, before interrogating contributions by successive theoretical analyses of what ageing involves. The chapter explores the decisive impacts of welfare states on the circumstances of ageing and their connections with the social distribution of family and caring roles. It continues with a discussion of generational and gender relations before examining wider environments for life-course development and their connections with familial and other forms of mutual care. Lastly, it addresses issues relating to social exclusion and ageism, before exploring aspects of social meaning connected with later life and their potential for enhancement.

Happy, stable and contented: accomplished ageing in the imagined futures of young New Zealanders

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
LESLEY G. PATTERSON ◽  
KATHERINE E. FORBES ◽  
ROBIN M. PEACE
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Young People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Financial Success ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Bodily Appearance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bodily Function ◽  
New Zealanders

ABSTRACTIn imagining how their lives might turn out, 100 young New Zealanders aged between 16 and 18 years wrote descriptions of their future lifecourse. Their descriptions of themselves at the nominal age of 80 years form the basis of the research reported in this paper. For these young people, ageing and old age are understood as accomplishments in the context of an imagined lifecourse. They see personal ageing as shaped by a common temporal ordering of life events that ensures material security, financial success, and an enduring intimate relationship. In imagining themselves aged 80 years, three key themes that constitute a discourse of ‘accomplished ageing’ were identified: the experience of old age would be contingent on achievements throughout the lifecourse; old age would be a time for harvest; and while people may look old they can continue to ‘be’ young. Although their images of bodily appearance included some negative stereotypes of old age, appearance and bodily function were understood as amenable to life-long self-management. The young people imagined themselves as life-long active agents, and framed a positive image and homogeneous social identity for older people. The ‘accomplished ageing’ discourse has implications for how ageing is understood by young people. In particular, the social identity that accomplished ageing implies may shape how they relate to those who do not accomplish ageing in the imagined optimistic and homogeneous way.

scholarly journals Retirement Migration and Precarity: Material and Social Aspects

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 443-444
Author(s):  
Marion Repetti ◽  
Toni Calasanti
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Active Lifestyle ◽  
Retirement Migration ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Discussions of precarity in later life have tended to focus on the uncertainties of material resources, and the feelings of anxiety that this evokes (e.g., Lain et al. 2019) as some older people thus face the risk of being excluded from the broader society. Although scholars often point to inequalities, such as those based on class and gender, as having an influence on the likelihood of older people experiencing such precarity, ageism is considered only to the extent that it can exacerbate the impact of these statuses through, for instance, labor market experiences. Here, we expand upon the impact of ageism on the social aspects of precarity: the loss of recognition and respect as a person that is at the core of social bonds. Drawing on qualitative interviews we have conducted among Swiss, British, and U.S. older people who migrated to cheaper countries in retirement, we demonstrate that ageism can influence precarity regardless of classes. We find that even among wealthier older migrants, who otherwise might fit the image of the retiree seeking an active lifestyle in a sunny location, the attempt to escape the devaluation heaped upon older people in their original country plays an important role. In their new countries, retired migrants of all classes felt that they were valued and part of a community, and this differed from the ageism in their home countries. We thus argue that ageism be considered in future analyses of precarity in later life.

scholarly journals The ideology of ageism versus the social imaginary of the fourth age: two differing approaches to the negative contexts of old age

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1617-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Higgs ◽  
Chris Gilleard
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Social Gerontology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractThe development of social gerontology has led to the emergence of its own terminology and conceptual armoury. ‘Ageism’ has been a key concept in articulating the mission of gerontology and was deliberately intended to act as an equivalent to the concepts of racism and sexism. As a term, it has established itself as a lodestone for thinking about the de-valued and residualised social status of older people in contemporary society. Given this background, ageism has often been used to describe an overarching ideology that operates in society to the detriment of older people and which in large part explains their economic, social and cultural marginality. This paper critiques this approach and suggests an alternative based upon the idea of the social imaginary of the fourth age. It argues that not only is the idea of ageism too totalising and contradictory but that it fails to address key aspects of the corporeality of old age. Adopting the idea of a social imaginary offers a more nuanced theoretical approach to the tensions that are present in later life without reducing them to a single external cause or explanation. In so doing, this leaves the term free to serve, in a purely descriptive manner, as a marker of prejudice.

Siblings in Old Age: Something Special

1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah T. Gold
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Sibling Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Sibling Relationship ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Shared History ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rich Data

ABSTRACTThis paper reports the findings of a qualitative examination of sibling relationships in old age. Interviews with sixty people over the age of sixty-five revealed that interactions with sisters and brothers took on new meaning in late life. A shared history of lifetime experiences made the sibling relationship unique in social networks in old age. Those who had positive relationships with siblings found that interactions decreased feelings of loneliness, provided emotional support and validation of earlier life experiences, and built feelings of closeness and sibling solidarity. Even those who had negative sibling relationships indicated a shift in feelings. The intensity of feeling about siblings in old age suggests that further study of the later-life sibling bond might increase understanding of ways in which the social and emotional needs of older people can be met. Interviews provided an effective method for gathering rich data about these complex social and emotional interactions.

scholarly journals “It used to be called an old man’s game”: Masculinity, ageing embodiment and senior curling participation

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi A. Allain ◽  
Barbara L. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Sport Culture ◽  
Complex Models ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Older Populations ◽  
Do So

The sport of curling, popular among older populations in Canada and conventionally imagined as a sport for older people, offers an important window into what it means to be an older man participating in sport. While researchers have extensively studied expressions of youthful masculinity in sport culture, scholarship about the confluence of gender expression and old age in sport is much rarer. Using Connell and Messerschmidt’s (2005) reconfiguration of hegemonic masculinity, and drawing on 19 interviews with older men who curl in mid-sized Canadian towns, we argue that later-life men negotiate complex models of appropriate masculinity that borrow from hegemonic exemplars available in earlier life, deploying certain forms of intellectual, class and gender privilege to do so. At the same time, they disrupt these hegemonies through an emphasis on interdependence, caring relationships and the acceptance of bodily limitations.  

scholarly journals ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE MASTERS DE NATAÇÃO (ABMN) - DIVISORA DE ÁGUAS NA HISTÓRIA DA NATAÇÃO MASTER DO BRASIL

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
Fabiano Pries Devide
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
The Social

Os objetivos do presente estudo foram investigar os fatores responsáveis pela fundação da ABMN e sua importância para a natação master brasileira. Através do método da história oral, foram feitas quatro entrevistas com sócios-fundadores e dirigentes da entidade desde a sua fundação em 1 984. Após transcrição/ reenvio aos colaboradores, conferência e análise dos dados, concluímos que a ABMN foi de extrema importância para a profissionalização da natação master no Brasil, que possui importância educacional e cultural, contribuindo para a melhoria da qualidade de vida dos nadadores e para uma transformação no estigma social da velhice por parte de seus praticantes, amigos e Familiares. The purpose of this study was to investigate the responsable factors of the ABMN co fundation and its importance to Brazílian master swimming. Through the method of oral history, we recorded four interviews with foundation-members and directors of the entity since its foundation in 1984. After transcription of the interviews, its conference by the cooperators, and analysis of the data, we concluded that ABMN was very important to the profissionalization of master swimming in Brazil, that is educationally and culturally important, helping to improve the quality of life of the swimmers, and to transform the social stigma of old age through particípants, their friends and relatives

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