Toward a gender politics of aging

ABSTRACT

The article proposes a Gender Politics of Aging approach to the study of aging societies. The approach recognizes the feminization of old age, ageism’s roots in sexist discourse, and the need to recognize the role of politics in driving demographic debates. Drawing together arguments from feminist gerontology and political demography, the article argues that the intersection of politics and gender must be considered if appropriate responses to an older, feminized demography are to be produced. I conclude that the work of aging feminists provides a rich vein of research and praxis from which a gender politics of aging approach can draw.

KEYWORDS:

• Ageism
• aging feminists
• feminism
• political demography

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Yvonne Galligan, Dagmar Schiek, and participants at the International Political Science Association Annual Conference in Poznan, Poland, July 2016. I am grateful to comments from an anonymous reviewer whose suggestions improved the paper.

Funding

This article was completed with support from the ARK Ageing program at Queen’s University Belfast.

Additional information

Funding

This article was completed with support from the ARK Ageing program at Queen’s University Belfast.