Learning to be old
Subtitle: gender, culture, and aging
By: Margaret Cruikshank
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Lanham, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Aging -- Psychological aspects; Older people -- United States
Description: Describes beliefs, customs, and traditions surrounding aging in America and suggests that awareness of these social construcitons can help women resist their negative impact. After critiquing cultural myths, ageism, the politics of aging, and mainstream gerontology, she proposes a feminist "gerastology" in which older women "including minorities and lesbians) interview their peers as part of the research agenda.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-232) and index
Table of contents: title: Cultural myths and aging; title: The fear of an aging population; title: Sickness and other social roles of the old; title: Overmedicating old Americans; title: Healthy physical aging; title: The politics of healthy aging; title: Gender, class, and ethnicity; title: Prescribed busyness and spirituality; title: Ageism; title: Gerastology : a feminist's view of gerontology and women's aging; title: Conclusion: The paradoxes of aging