Exiled to the home: Masculinity and ageing in urban Mexico

This study addresses the relationship between ageing and masculinity in urban Mexico. We examine the meaning of home for older men, asking why some live alone and what life at home is like for men whose working lives were largely spent elsewhere. We argue that the growing literature on men has neglected ageing because later life is associated with a subordinate form of masculinity. Although recent work on masculinity in Mexico has rejected the negative stereotyping of machismo, revealing the importance of the provider role to hegemonic masculinity, this role is gradually lost in later life. We conclude that its loss, together with the legacy of difficulties poorer men face in meeting family responsibilities throughout their life, disadvantages older men.