Suchergebnisse

AbstractGayle Rubin's now classic concept of the 'charmed circle' has been much used by scholars of sexuality to discuss the ways in which some types of sex are privileged over others. In this paper, I apply the concept of the charmed circle to a new topic—later life—in order both to add to theory about later life sex and to add an older-age lens to thinking about sex hierarchies. Traditional discursive resources around older people's sexual activities, which treat older people's sex as inherently beyond the charmed circle, now coexist with new imperatives for older people to remain sexually active as part of a wider project of 'successful' or 'active' ageing. Drawing on the now-substantial academic literature about later life sex, I discuss some of the ways in which redrawing the charmed circle to include some older people's sex may paradoxically entail the use of technologies beyond the charmed circle of 'good, normal, natural, blessed' sex. Sex in later life also generates some noteworthy inversions in which types of sex are privileged and which treated as less desirable, in relation to marriage and procreation. Ageing may, furthermore, make available new possibilities to redefine what constitutes 'good' sex and to refuse compulsory sexuality altogether, without encountering stigma.

This paper discusses narratives created during interviews with 23 older women (aged 61–90) about their experiences of sex and intimate relationships in later life. For analytic purposes, the paper understands narratives to be neither pre-existing nor a simple reflection of experience, but to be made moment-by-moment in the interaction between parties drawing on available cultural resources. Attention to the interactional situation in which the narrative is produced helps to explain the ways in which speakers perpetuate or resist dominant cultural storylines. Older women's accounts of sexual relationships provide a particularly rich site for this analysis because a dominant cultural storyline of 'asexual older people' is often evident in popular culture. This storyline provides an important cultural resource which older women who are talking about sex can both draw on and resist in order to produce their own accounts. This paper uses a discourse analytic approach to discuss some of the moments in which speakers explicitly produce counter-narratives. These moments are visible to the analyst by the participants' own orientations to telling a counter-narrative. The paper also considers parts of the accounts which the analyst identifies as counter-narratives, although the speakers do not orient to this. The analyst's own position is thus implicated in the analysis and is reflexively considered.

The editors provide a thought-provoking resource for anyone concerned with sexuality and gender identity in health and social care settings. Drawing on current research and debates, the contributors explore some of the tensions between the different ways in which sexuality is understood and experienced. A focus of the book is on how categorieslike 'lesbian', 'gay', 'bisexual', and 'trans'shape everyday practice and service use

As the drive towards creating age-friendly cities grows, this important book provides a comprehensive survey of theories and policies aimed at improving the quality of life of older people living in urban areas. In this book, part of the Ageing in a Global Context series, leading international researchers critically assess the problems and the potential of designing age-friendly environments. The book considers the different ways in which cities are responding to population ageing, the different strategies for developing age-friendly communities, and the extent to which older people themselves can be involved in the co-production of age-friendly policies and practices. The book includes a manifesto for the age-friendly movement, focused around tackling social inequality and promoting community empowerment

With the proportion of people between young adulthood and the third age growing in relation to children and young people in western industrialised societies, there is an increasing need for a comprehensive look at the past, present and future of adult lives. These adult lives are defined by the experience of history, are structurally specific, and draw upon different interpersonal, lifestyle and cultural resources and it is important to recognise the impact of the past and the present on future adult lives. 'Adult Lives', co-published by The Policy Press and the Open University, is a diverse collection of readings, rich in resources, from all stages of life. These readings contribute to a shared life course perspective to understand how those living and working together in an ageing society relate to each other. The originality and appeal of this Reader lies in its holistic approach to understanding ageing in adulthood through biography and auto-biography that is applicable to all, including those developing policy and in practice, and will make essential reading for those who wishing to contextualise ageing, understand how lives can be transformed through policy and practice, and consider the lived experience