Envejecimiento y género: otras perspectivas necesarias

Abstract

This paper focuses on the need for developmental research and theory to consider aging as something radically diferent in men and women, insofar as the experiences and lives of both sexes determine a set of personal circumstances in old age which are diametrically opposed. Moreover, the paper analyses other features such as the tendency to treat the elderly as un homogenous group ignoring their diversity, the overridingly negative view of aging, and the stereotypes of the elderly. The paper also considers the evolution of the traditional roles throughout the life-span, health and the menopause as personal constructs and the economic history of women as a determining factor in the alarming levels of poverty in the elderly female population.