Images of Old Men’s Masculinity: Still a Man?

Status, masculinity, and femininity at the intersection of age and gender

Although men are generally awarded greater status than women, little is known about how gendered ageism may affect the gender gap in status. Using an online survey experiment (N = 2473), this study examines how cultural beliefs about status, masculinity, and femininity are differentially affected by men's and women's age. Findings show that aging has little effect on men's perceived status, but aging drives both upswings and downswings in women's perceived status, giving men status advantages during early and late adulthood. Similarly, whereas aging does not affect men's perceived masculinity, aging drives upswings and downswings in women's perceived femininity, depending on current age. Perceived masculinity is more strongly linked to men's status than perceived femininity is to women's. Findings contribute to research on status and gendered ageism, and shed light on how age and gender combine to influence ubiquitous social judgments that are integral to the reproduction of social inequality.

Ageism linked to culture, not demographics: Evidence from an 8-billion-word corpus across 20 countries

Objectives

Ageism has increased over 200 years and costs the U.S. health care system $63 billion a year. While scholars agree on the consequences of ageism, there are disagreements on whether it is related to the demographics of aging, or society’s cultural values. We test both hypotheses across 20 countries.

Method

To circumvent the sampling limitations of survey studies, we used an 8-billion-word corpus, identified 3 synonyms with the highest prevalence—aged, elderly, old people—and compiled the top 300 words (collocates) that were used most frequently with these synonyms for each of the 20 countries. The resulting 6,000 collocates were rated on an ageism scale by 2 raters to create an ageism score per country. Cultural dimension scores—Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-term Orientation—were taken from Hofstede, and demographics—size and speed of population aging—came from the World Development Indicators.

Results

Of the 20 countries, UK topped the ageism table, while Sri Lanka had the lowest ageism score. Multiple regression models showed that higher levels of masculinity and long-term orientation are associated with ageism, controlling for other cultural dimensions, demographics (size and speed of aging), and economics (GDP-per-capita).

Discussion

Our findings blunt the deterministic nature of ageism at the societal level. Demographics is only one side of the ageism coin, and the cultural side is equally, if not more important. This study lays the groundwork to tackle societal ageism—one of our generation’s most pernicious threats.

Loneliness, social dislocation and invisibility experienced by older men who are single or living alone: accounting for differences across sexual identity and social context

Across literature on loneliness and ageing, little attention is given to the intersection of ageing, sexuality and masculinities, and how this shapes the social connections of older men. We report findings from a qualitative study of older men's experiences of loneliness and social participation, focusing on perspectives from two groups who are single and/or living alone: men identifying as (a) heterosexual and (b) gay (not bisexual). We present findings generated from semi-structured interviews with 72 men residing in England (65–95 years). We discuss three prominent themes: (a) loneliness, loss and social dislocation; (b) diverging life-events that trigger loneliness; and (c) variations in visibility and exclusion across social settings. Embedded within men's descriptions of loneliness is a running theme of social dislocation that speaks to a wider sense of social separation and estrangement. Unique to gay men's accounts are the ways in which experiences of loneliness and social isolation are compounded by living in heteronormative social environments and their encounters with ageism in gay social settings. Older men's accounts convey anxieties about visibility and anticipated exclusion across social settings shared with other men that vary according to sexual identity and context. We discuss how sexuality and being single and/or living alone impact on older men's social participation as we seek to move beyond a heterocentric understanding of loneliness.

Diversity and age stereotypes in portrayals of older adults in popular American primetime television series

To examine the prevalence and diversity of older adults on primetime television, and age stereotyping in these portrayals, we analysed the contents of 112 episodes of popular American television series aired between 2004 and 2018. We identified 6.6 per cent of characters as aged 65 and older – a slight improvement to the values reported in previous studies. However, older adult characters are still grossly under-represented, considering the actual proportion of older adults in the general population of the United States of America. Further, the typical older character was young-old, male, Caucasian, middle-class, able-bodied and straight – if his sexuality was referenced. Older women still face double discrimination in media representations. In addition, older adult characters with ethnicities other than Caucasian and African American are virtually invisible in primetime fiction series. Similarly, old-old characters, sexual minorities and persons with disabilities are particularly rare among older adult characters in this type of programming. Finally, portrayals of 51.9 per cent of characters included at least some elements of age stereotypes, most of which were positive. The most commonly applied positive and negative stereotypes were found to be the golden ager and the shrew, respectively. The findings are discussed in the context of the dominant discourse of ageing and the potential implications of how various social groups perceive ageing and older adults.

Dress, gender and the embodiment of age: men and masculinities

The study explores the role of clothing in the constitution of embodied masculinity in age, contrasting its results with an earlier study of women. It draws four main conclusions. First that men's responses to dress were marked by continuity both with their younger selves and with mainstream masculinity, of which they still felt themselves to be part. Age was less a point of challenge or change than for many women. Second, men's responses were less affected by cultural codes in relation to age. Dress was not, by and large, seen through the lens of age; and there was not the sense of cultural exile that had marked many of the women's responses. Third, for some older men dress could be part of wider moral engagement, expressive of values linked positively to age, embodying old-fashioned values that endorsed their continuing value as older men. Lastly, dress in age reveals some of the ways in which men retain aspects of earlier gender privilege. The study was based on qualitative interviews with 24 men aged 58–85, selected to display a range in terms of social class, occupation, sexuality, employment and relationship status. It forms part of the wider intellectual movement of cultural gerontology that aims to expand the contexts in which we explore later years; and contributes to a new focus on materiality within sociology.

Comparing Prescriptive and Descriptive Gender Stereotypes About Children, Adults, and the Elderly

Gender stereotypes have descriptive components, or beliefs about how males and females typically act, as well as prescriptive components, or beliefs about how males and females should act. For example, women are supposed to be nurturing and avoid dominance, and men are supposed to be agentic and avoid weakness. However, it is not clear whether people hold prescriptive gender stereotypes about children of different age groups. In addition, research has not addressed prescriptive gender stereotypes for the elderly. The current research measured prescriptive gender stereotypes for children, adults, and elderly men and women in 3 studies to (a) compare how prescriptive gender stereotypes change across age groups and (b) address whether stereotypes of males are more restrictive than stereotypes of females. Students (Studies 1 and 2) and community members (Study 3), which were all U.S. and majority White samples, rated how desirable it was for different target groups to possess a list of characteristics from 1 (very undesirable) to 9 (very desirable). The target age groups included toddlers, elementary-aged, adolescent, young adult, adult, and elderly males and females. The list of 21 characteristics was created to encompass traits and behaviors relevant across a wide age range. In a meta-analysis across studies, prescriptive stereotypes were defined as characteristics displaying a sex difference of d > 0.40 and an average rating as desirable for positive prescriptive stereotypes (PPS) or undesirable for negative proscriptive stereotypes (NPS) for male or females of each age group. Results replicated previous research on prescriptive stereotypes for adults: Women should be communal and avoid being dominant. Men should be agentic, independent, masculine in appearance, and interested in science and technology, but avoid being weak, emotional, shy, and feminine in appearance. Stereotypes of boys and girls from elementary-aged to young adults still included these components, but stereotypes of toddlers involved mainly physical appearance and play behaviors. Prescriptive stereotypes of elderly men and women were weaker. Overall, boys and men had more restrictive prescriptive stereotypes than girls and women in terms of strength and number. These findings demonstrate the applicability of prescriptive stereotypes to different age groups.

Comparing Prescriptive and Descriptive Gender Stereotypes About Children, Adults, and the Elderly

Gender stereotypes have descriptive components, or beliefs about how males and females typically act, as well as prescriptive components, or beliefs about how males and females should act. For example, women are supposed to be nurturing and avoid dominance, and men are supposed to be agentic and avoid weakness. However, it is not clear whether people hold prescriptive gender stereotypes about children of different age groups. In addition, research has not addressed prescriptive gender stereotypes for the elderly. The current research measured prescriptive gender stereotypes for children, adults, and elderly men and women in 3 studies to (a) compare how prescriptive gender stereotypes change across age groups and (b) address whether stereotypes of males are more restrictive than stereotypes of females. Students (Studies 1 and 2) and community members (Study 3), which were all U.S. and majority White samples, rated how desirable it was for different target groups to possess a list of characteristics from 1 (very undesirable) to 9 (very desirable). The target age groups included toddlers, elementary-aged, adolescent, young adult, adult, and elderly males and females. The list of 21 characteristics was created to encompass traits and behaviors relevant across a wide age range. In a meta-analysis across studies, prescriptive stereotypes were defined as characteristics displaying a sex difference of d > 0.40 and an average rating as desirable for positive prescriptive stereotypes (PPS) or undesirable for negative proscriptive stereotypes (NPS) for male or females of each age group. Results replicated previous research on prescriptive stereotypes for adults: Women should be communal and avoid being dominant. Men should be agentic, independent, masculine in appearance, and interested in science and technology, but avoid being weak, emotional, shy, and feminine in appearance. Stereotypes of boys and girls from elementary-aged to young adults still included these components, but stereotypes of toddlers involved mainly physical appearance and play behaviors. Prescriptive stereotypes of elderly men and women were weaker. Overall, boys and men had more restrictive prescriptive stereotypes than girls and women in terms of strength and number. These findings demonstrate the applicability of prescriptive stereotypes to different age groups.

The status value of age

A controlled experiment and three replications examined the relationship between a person's age as a status characteristic and the value placed on that person as a potential group member. The experiments used computer-generated avatars to isolate the effects of age on the status value of partners being chosen for a work-related task. The design allowed us to compare the effect of age on status for members of three distinct groups: younger adults, middle-aged adults, and much older adults. Results showed that undergraduate participants rated middle-aged adult avatars higher on status indicators and chose to work with middle-aged adult avatars significantly more often than younger adult or much older adult avatars. The participants rated the much older avatar higher on most indicators of status than the younger adult avatar. They also chose to work with a much older adult more often than a person closer to their own age. This sample of undergraduate students placed the most value on the potential contributions of a middle-aged adult compared to a younger adult and also to a much older adult, suggesting that age as a status characteristic has more than two relevant categories, younger versus older. Further research is needed to determine whether the status value of age rises to a peak in middle age and declines thereafter.

Care, coping and identity: Older men's experiences of spousal care-giving

In this paper, we draw on narrative correspondence from older male spousal caregivers and interviews with care providers from the voluntary and statutory sectors to explore how older male carers in the UK cope with and experience care-giving, the forms of support they draw upon, and how this impacts on their sense of self and identity as older men. We also consider how (or if) gender plays a part in shaping the forms of formal care support extended to male carers. We conclude, that how older men construct and perform care-giving, and how the wider family and community respond to older men as carers, can impact on how they perform masculinity. This in turn can contribute to a decline in their social networks and opportunities for sociability, leading to increased loneliness and social isolation. Such insights are important if we are to enrich our knowledge of the challenges they face, the coping mechanisms they employ, and the extent to which their support needs are met in their caring role. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE TOPIC.

‘Old but not that old’: Finnish community-dwelling people aged 90+ negotiating their autonomy

Autonomy is a pervasive concept in Western lifestyles today. However, people in the fourth age are assumed not to be autonomous but dependent on other people. The data of this study consisted of interviews with Finnish community-dwelling 90–91-year-old people. The study aim was to examine how these people see their own autonomy in their everyday lives. The analysis was based on membership categorisation analysis. Our respondents considered their autonomy through three distinct themes. Functional ability was considered in terms of being physically capable of managing daily tasks. Independence in decision making was based on material and financial self-sufficiency and on the respondents' supposition that they were capable of making decisions due to an absence of memory disorders. Additionally, autonomy was considered as contesting norms of age-appropriateness. Among respondents, chronological age seemed to have been replaced by functional and cognitive ability as a definer of categorisations; age-others became ability-others. Our study revealed that the perceptions of autonomy also included gendered features as they were linked with differing gendered ideals, roles and life domains of women and men. The results highlight the internal diversity among the oldest old and challenge the third/fourth age division. Instead, they suggest the existence of a certain ‘grey area’ within old age, and urge an analysis on the subtle meaning making involved in older people's constructions of age-categorisations.

Place and wellbeing: shedding light on activity interventions for older men

In the United Kingdom, one in five of the population is an older man, many of whom live alone. Loneliness and social isolation is a growing issue for many of these older men, one that has been associated with elevated blood pressure, poor physical health, increased mortality and mental ill-health, including depression, suicide and dementia. Lone dwelling and social isolation have tended to be viewed largely as issues affecting older women due to their greater life expectancy (LE), but the LE gap between men and women is closing, presenting new challenges for the health and wellbeing of older men. This is not unique to the United Kingdom. Yet whilst inclusionary social spaces and supportive social ties can be important for enhancing physical and mental wellbeing amongst older people, evidence suggests that lone-dwelling older men can experience greater difficulty in accessing effective social support, relative to older women. Understanding those spaces of communal activity that are likely to be successful in promoting health and wellbeing amongst older men is thus important if we are to improve their quality of life. In this paper, we draw on research with a ‘Men in Sheds’ pilot programme in the United Kingdom, to illustrate how everyday spaces within local communities might be designed to both promote and maintain the health and wellbeing of older men. In doing so, we aim to offer insights into how Sheds, as created and gendered spaces, may not only engage older men in ways that help to maintain their perceived health and wellbeing, but also provide sites within which older men can perform and reaffirm their masculinity.

Aging male bodies, health and the reproduction of age relations

This article explores the ways in which a group of male factory workers uses bodies as bases for hierarchical categorization of men by age in their talk of mundane aspects of their lives. Analysis of interviews about health (4 focus groups and 5 personal interviews) with Finnish working-class men under 40 years old shows that they portray age groups to which they do not belong as careless, even irresponsible toward health and its maintenance. As they categorize youth and old people by age, they leave themselves unmarked by it, providing no vocabulary to describe their own group. Despite their tendency to distance themselves particularly from old people, they also distinguish among older men by familiarity, providing relatively nuanced accounts of their fathers' aging. We discuss the marking of age groups in terms of social inequality and talk of fathers in terms of intergenerational relations. Even family ties among men of diverse ages involve ageism, which familiarity serves both to mitigate and to make less visible. This article documents the maintenance of age inequality in everyday, mundane behavior.

Multiple standards of aging: gender-specific age stereotypes in different life domains

Whereas it is often stated that aging might have more negative consequences for the evaluation of women compared to men, evidence for this assumption is mixed. We took a differentiated look at age stereotypes of men and women, assuming that the life domain in which older persons are rated moderates gender differences in age stereotypes. A sample of 298 participants aged 20-92 rated 65-year-old men and women on evaluative statements in eight different life domains. Furthermore, perceptions of gender- and domain-specific age-related changes were assessed by comparing the older targets to 45-year-old men and women, respectively. The results speak in favor of the domain specificity of evaluative asymmetries in age stereotypes for men and women, and imply that an understanding of gendered perceptions of aging requires taking into account the complexities of domain-specific views on aging.

‘I was there when she passed’: older widowers' narratives of the death of their wife

There is evidence that older widowed women provide narrative accounts of the events that led up to the deaths of their husbands. These accounts are qualitatively different from other parts of their interviews. This study examines interviews from older widowers and asks what features characterise their narrative accounts of their wife's death. The data show that men do speak of the death of their wife in a qualitatively different way than they do of other matters: women speak emotionally whilst men speak of their behaviour. Using Kirsi, Hervonen and Jylhä's typology of male care-givers, we find that their interviews are characterised by four types of speech: factual, agentic, familistic and destiny speech. In addition, we find two additional speech types related to blame – one related to medical negligence (a subset of destiny speech) and one to self-blame (a subset of familistic speech). We argue that the use of these patterns of speech allow men to preserve their masculine identities at a time when bereavement puts them under intense strain.

'That's not masculine': masculine capital and health-related behaviour

In recent years increasing attention has been given to how different masculinities are expressed in young men's health behaviour. To examine whether men can use competence in key health-related masculine domains to compensate for other non-masculine behaviour, group discussions were conducted with men aged 18-21 living in London, England. The analysis revealed the ways in which competence in traditionally masculine health-related domains produces masculine 'capital', which can be used to compensate for non-masculine behaviour in other domains. However, the capacity to trade this capital is limited because different masculine and non-masculine behaviours have different values.

The Interaction of Masculinity and Control and its Impact on the Experience of Suffering for an Older Man

Previous work suggests that control and suffering are related to one another. Although it would be expected that within cultures which emphasize the importance of masculinity, as well as personal control, there would be greater suffering among individuals who lose their sense of masculinity or control, how these constructs relate to each other and are individually negotiated has been largely understudied. This paper takes a case study approach to further exploring how the constructs of control, masculinity, and suffering are related in the lived experience of an older European American man, Mr. Gregor. Analysis of this case shows that masculinity is related to control and that these constructs act as themes which interact over Mr. Gregor's lifetime in a variety of ways. The level of control maintained by Mr. Gregor in different aspects of his life affects his sense of suffering. In some instances his sense of masculinity helps to protect Mr. Gregor against suffering; in others, it contributes to his suffering. These findings support the notion that there are culturally dependent possibilities for how control and masculinity are related.

Widowers' strategies of self-representation during research interviews: a sociological analysis

This article analyses the strategies that older widowers used to assert their masculinity during in-depth research interviews by the author, a middle-aged woman. Twenty-six widowers living in Atlantic Canada and Florida in the United States and who were aged from 56 to 91 years participated in the study. The author analysed the interviews from a symbolic-interactionist perspective that looks at the world from the perspective of those being studied. The widowers used various strategies of impression management to reinforce their identity as ‘real men’ during the interviews. These strategies included taking charge of the interview, using personal diminutives and endearments to assert control, lecturing the interviewer about various topics including differences between men and women, and bringing attention to their heterosexuality by referring to themselves as bachelors and commenting on increased attention from women. The paper chronicles the process of discovery of the importance to the study participants of portraying themselves as men. It was found that older widowers' identity as ‘real men’ is precarious because they lack three essential components of masculinity: being in a heterosexual relationship, being employed, and being young. The article makes extensive use of the participants' quotations to demonstrate their attempts, through impression management, to maintain a masculine identity while discussing the very topics that threatened it.