SOC246H1 Lecture : sociology of aging
Document Summary
!e stories of my interviewees demonstrate what is like to grow old and to look old in a culture that valorizes youth and stigmatizes old age. While the intensity varies, respondents are motivated to aging, to resist being seen as old, and to develop strategies to manage their old bodies so they appear more youthful. It is a way of invisibility, of resisting exclusion, of trying to maintain positive cultural capital. !e qualitative nature of this study deepens our understanding of inequality and oppression. !e strategies of accommodation and complicity are full of tensions. Resisting looking old makes one a good and moral person, but highlights the self-imposed nature of this work and engages the oppressed within. a losing battle with the ravages of time, (blaikie 1999:86) as the work to conceal old age becomes more and more labor intensive.
