Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2018, 19 (2): 55-74 | DOI: 10.13060/25706578.2018.19.2.426

Sexuality and Ageing - Places of Silence: Using Intersectional Perspectives as a Starting Point for the Study of LGBT Ageing

Jaroslava Hasmanová Marhánková

Issues of sexuality have been considerably under-studied in the analysis of later life in social gerontology. Sexual identity was considered to have a minor impact on life and social inequalities in old age. Consequently, the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender older people have been largely unrecognised in the study of ageing. This paper argues for the need to incorporate the dimension of sexuality in the study of ageing. It points out the heteronormative biases that are part of the dominant discourses in gerontology. The theory of active ageing that has so far dominated representations of the 'desirable' way to age is used as a case example of this heteronormative imaginary of old age. The second part of the paper focuses on possible ways of conceptualising 'LGBT ageing'. The aim of the paper is to discuss intersectional perspectives as a means of deconstructing the heteronormative imaginary of old age and as an analytical tool that may help us to conceptualise in a meaningful way the potential specificity of the experience of LGBT older people.

Keywords: ageing, gerontology, LGBT, intersectionality, sexuality

Published: June 1, 2018Show citation

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Hasmanová Marhánková, Jaroslava. 2018. "Sexuality and Ageing - Places of Silence: Using Intersectional Perspectives as a Starting Point for the Study of LGBT Ageing." Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 19(2):55-74.
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