Gender, Social Inequalities, and Aging

By (author) Toni M. Calasanti, Kathleen F. Slevin

Not available to order

Publication date:

28 August 2001

Length of book:

248 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

ISBN-13: 9780759116979

The experience of men and women in later life varies enormously, not only along lines of gender but also due to ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and race. In this text on gender issues among the aging, Calasanti and Slevin explore these differences, their genesis, their meaning to men and women, and their treatment in the policy arena. The authors also take to task traditional research on aging and how it ignores these issues. The authors cover topics of work and retirement, body image, sexuality, health, family relationships, and informal care, among many others. The current research and nuanced theoretical approach presented in this brief book makes it the ideal text to correct the stereotypic and monolithic views of the elderly for courses in gender or aging.

Chapter 1 Gender, Social Inequalities, and Aging
Chapter 2 1. A Gender Lens on Old Age
Chapter 3 2. Gender and the Study of Old Age
Chapter 4 3. Bodies in Old Age
Chapter 5 4. Sex, Sexuality and Old Age
Chapter 6 5. Gender, Social Inequalities, and Retirement Income
Chapter 7 6. Retirement Experiences: The Continuity of Work
Chapter 8 7. Gender, Care Work, and Family in Old Age
Chapter 9 8. An Aging Lens on Gender
Chapter 10 References
Chapter 11 Index
Chapter 12 About the Authors

This book takes an original feminist perspective on old age as a political location, foregrounding gender, aging, and social power. By placing the old within the intersections of other stratifying social identities, Calasanti and Slevin present a major critical analysis of ageism. It will be indispensable reading for women's studies and sociology courses, as well for family and gerontology....