Toni Calasanti

Firming the Floppy Penis Age, Class, and Gender Relations in the Lives of Old Men

Studies of manhood neglect the old just as social gerontology avoids theorizing masculinity, but theories of age relations have much to offer to the scholarship of men. Preliminary study of a mass-marketed program of “successful aging” suggests that old men with money to spend can consume images of themselves as young again. The authors analyze both the ageism of such a consumer regimen and its implications for old manhood in the contexts of men’s endangered physical health, unequal access to wealth, heterosexual dominance, and fears of impotency.

Gender Inequality and the Division of Household Labor in the United States and Sweden: A Socialist-Feminist Approach

In this paper, we offer a socialist-feminist framework for exploring the persistence of gender inequality in the disvision of household labor. The inconsistent results generated by the relative resources, gender-role ideology, and time-availability hypotheses speak to the need to examine the structural bases for power relations based on gender. Emphasizing the relative autonomy and interrelations of capitalism and patriarchy, socialist-feminism posits that different forms of patriarchal capitalism have varying effects on the division of household labor. (We thus examine the usefulness of this approach by exploring the relationships expressed in three traditional hypotheses about gender inequality and the performance of five household tasks in the United States and Sweden.) The results of our regression analyses indicate that previous perspectives do not adequately examine the power differential embodied in gender relations and that socialist-feminism may give us insights into why gender inequities in the home are maintained despite progressive legislation

THE INFLUENCES OF GENDER, RACE AND ETHNICITY ON WORKPLACE EXPERIENCES OF INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIAL ISOLATION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF UNIVERSITY FACULTY

ABSTRACT Racial and ethnic minorities and women in the professoriate have already achieved a level of career success to overcome obstacles and negotiate the educational process. Still, their experiences differ from their white male counterparts. They lag behind in terms of pay and mobility, and research on other occupations reveals that even “successful” minorities experience the workplace organization differently from white men (Nkomo and Cox 1990; Yoder and Aniakudo, 1997). Our study extends research in this area in two ways. First, we ask, to what extent do women and minorities in the professoriate experience the workplace differently from white men as evidenced in feelings of institutional and social isolation, and intention to turnover? Second, we avoid homogenizing racial and ethnic minority groups into a single “nonwhite” category. Thus, in exploring experiences of isolation, we distinguish among a wider range of racial, ethnic and gender groups. While we had insufficient numbers to look at a large number of minority groups, our findings indicate the importance of examining feelings of different types of isolation and the significance of the gendered and racialized nature of workplace organizations.

Ageism and Feminism: From “Et Cetera” to Center

Although womens studies scholars and activists do not deny the reality of ageism, they have relegated it to secondary status, neglecting to theorize age relations or place old age at the center of analysis. After explaining what we mean by age relations and their intersections with other inequalities, we discuss the ways in which old people are oppressed, and why age relations represent a political location that needs to be addressed in its own right. We then demonstrate ways in which feminist theories and activism might change if the focus shifted to old people.

Bodacious Berry, Potency Wood and the Aging Monster: Gender and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads

This paper situates age discrimination within a broader system of age relations that intersects with other inequalities, and then uses that framework to analyze internet advertisements for the anti-aging industry. Such ads reinforce age and gender relations by positing old people as worthwhile only to the extent that they look and act like those who are middle aged or younger, by defining manhood and womanhood in opposition to each other, and by defining old age as an unhealthy loss of gender identity. These ads promote a reversion to middle age and white, middle-class, heterosexual norms of male performance and female beauty. The analysis demonstrates the utility of understanding age discrimination in terms of intersecting relations of inequality rather than learned attitudes alone.

Gender Relations and Applied Research on Aging

As a concept in gerontology, gender appears as lists of traits learned through socialization when theorized at all. I argue for a framework that theorizes the intersections of relations of gender inequality with those of age. This framework holds that men and women gain resources and bear responsibilities, in relation to one another, by virtue of mundane categorization into naturalized stratified groups. Current research shows that this approach allows explanation of gender differences, which appear in many reports but which usually go untheorized, as responses to social inequality. I illustrate applications to research and practice in relation to three areas of old age experiences: financial security, spousal care work, and health. Throughout, I discuss implications of focusing on inequality to enhance our abilities to engage in effective research, practice, and policy for older people, women and men alike. For instance, an understanding of the gender division of labor and workplace discrimination makes clear that financial status in later life cannot be reduced to individual choices concerning paid labor or retirement planning. And understanding that people orient their behaviors to gender ideals allows us to see that men and women perform spousal care in similar and different ways that require varied responses from practitioners; it also reveals contexts in which men engage in positive health behaviors. Finally, I argue that gerontologists interested in facilitating favorable outcomes for old people should consider research and practice that would disrupt, not reinforce, the bases of gender inequalities in later life.

Bringing in diversity: Toward an inclusive theory of retirement

Abstract After noting the exclusion of considerations of gender relations in retirement research, I present a socialist-feminist approach to retirement, contending that the inclusiveness of this perspective allows us to understand different aging experiences. Specifically, I outline the ways in which gender, class, and racial/ethnic relations structure the interactions among family, work, and retirement. Finally, I argue that socialist feminism not only provides a way to embrace diversity but also challenges us to reformulate our concepts, including the notion of retirement itself, to make them more inclusive.

A socialist-feminist approach to aging: Embracing diversity

Abstract In seeking to enhance the quality of life in the later years, geron7tologists have been hampered by not attending to the diversity of experiences among the elderly. In this article, we put forward a theoretical perspective, socialist feminism, that can examine aging in an inclusive manner. Socialist-feminism, with its focus on the historically and socially constructed nature of gender, class, and racial/ethnic relations, constitutes an approach wherein diversity can be embraced and understood through an examination of similar and different aging experiences. In elaborating a socialist-feminist approach, we focus primarily on gender relations, explaining some key concepts which we feel are critical in redirecting gerontological theory, research, and practice.

The Family as a Site for Gendered Ethnic Identity Work Among Asian Indian Immigrants

Research on immigrants often points to the family as a source of support and a location for oppression. Using in-depth interviews with 38 first-generation immigrant Indians, this study adds to this literature by exploring families as sites of identity work where first-generation immigrants manage their gendered ethnic identities. Relocation into a new culture makes ethnic identity salient for the migrants, and they perform identity work to maintain this identity. However, because these identities are simultaneously gendered, enacting these reinforces gender hierarchies within families. Even though migration alters family structures, and especially family roles and responsibilities, individuals retain altered aspects of their roles that reinforce gender and ethnic identity. This identity work thus reinforces the observation that immigrant families can be both a source of strength and oppression. It provides a source of support from the Indian immigrant community while it also reshapes the gender inequalities embedded in Indian family structures.

Participation in a dual economy and adjustment to retirement.

Past studies of adjustment to retirement have generally accepted social structure as a given, and have instead focused upon individual level variables. Based upon criticisms of the white-collar/blue-collar depiction of the work world, an alternative model of the economic system is introduced in an attempt to interject variability in the area of social structure. Utilizing a national sample of men derived from the National Opinion Research Center (1972–1977 inclusive), this dual economic model is employed to assess the effects of sectoral placement of workers on subsequent retirement satisfaction. Findings from multiple regression analysis suggest that such placement renders two qualitatively different groups of retirees, one which is primarily concerned with health, and one for which financial adequacy is more important for retirement adjustment. Overall, it was concluded that structural components must be included in research on the retirement process. In addition, the variability among the different scales used to indicate adjustment to retirement suggests that these may have to be altered to adequately reflect the process of adjustment for each of the groups of retirees. These changes must be based on the structural aspects of the economic order which mandate very different work experiences.