Masculinity In Age Research Articles

‘Manopause’: sexual response changes as a threat to ageing manhood

When men root manhood in sexual performance, their inability to get and maintain an erection (i.e. erectile dysfunction) may pose a threat to ageing men’s ability to enact masculinity. Using data from the 2015–2016 National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) – a nationally representative survey of the USA – this study finds that age and erectile dysfunction interact: men who report ‘trouble getting or maintaining an erection’ have a higher odds of reporting anxiety before sex. However, this effect gradually declines as the sample of men with erectile dysfunction ages (from ages 49 to 95). Additionally, men who do not report erectile dysfunction have the same odds of sex-anxiety throughout the sample, regardless of their age. The change in sexual performance may cause distress for men, as they feel unable to maintain their dominant masculinity in old age. While previous studies have shown that age and gender interact to affect men’s sexual health in mid-life and later-life, this study adds to the feminist gerontology literature by providing indirect evidence that changes in sexual response may become gradually less anxiety-inducing, and thereby, less threatening for men as they age.

From Decline to Becoming: Evolving Images of Aging Masculinities in Stephen King’s Mr Mercedes

From Decline to Becoming: Evolving Images of Aging Masculinities in Stephen King’s Mr Mercedes

Does Age Matter? Aging Masculinities in the Spanish Audiovisual Industry

The Spanish star system is witnessing the aging of its most acclaimed and awarded male actors from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and the first two decades of the 21st century: male actors belonging to the silent generation like José Sacristán (86), Emilio Gutiérrez Caba (81), Miguel Rellán (80), José María Pou (78), and Eusebio Poncela (76); actors belonging to the baby boomers such as Antonio Resines (69), Imanol Arias (67), José Coronado (66), Antonio Banderas (63), and Juan Echanove (62), to mention a few. Likewise, out of the 48 million people in Spain, 34.1% are individuals over 55, representing an important segment of Spanish society. Therefore, the aging of the star system mirrors the aging of Spanish moviegoers and TV spectators. Long-lasting TV series such as Cuéntame cómo pasó underscore the identification created across the years of the series between character, actor and viewer, and how they all experience and live time. This article also examines how aging Spanish male actors play, on the one hand, leading or secondary roles that do not deviate from the fit, tough, attractive, and sexually active profile often associated with the successful aging narrative in the American audiovisual industry of the geriaction subgenre, although in some instances they experience some sort of feminization attributed to aging, as is the case of the TV series Entrevías (2022) and El Príncipe (2014–2017). In these representations, the new roles assumed by aging masculinities when addressing social and family issues, ranging from the materiality of the body to moral obligations, are explored. On the other hand, series like Sentimos las molestias (Spain 2022) follow the path opened by The Kominsky Method (US 2018) by portraying aging as decline through the wide use of stereotypes.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Aging, Inclusive Masculinities, and Media Celebrity

In this essay, I want to engage critically the concept of “inclusive masculinities” to argue that it needs to account for the dimension of age. As part of a third phase of masculinity research that goes beyond the theoretical framework of “hegemonic masculinity” (Connell) to fathom the diversification of forms of masculinity, Eric Anderson deploys “inclusive masculinities” to theorize the proliferation of a plurality of non-vertical, non-hegemonic types of masculinity. These varied types allow for emotional intimacy with friends and physical tactility with other men, embracing activities and objects once coded feminine and, crucially, they eschew violence and bullying. As inclusive as this paradigm of changing masculinities is, it has largely overlooked the dimension of age. Aging men in film, media, and popular culture are typically depicted in a stay of decay and decline, while shifting patterns of masculinity seem to be limited to youth males. My case study for this cross-reading of inclusive masculinities with aging studies is an iconic photograph of two aging celebrity athletes. On September 23, 2022, freelance photographer Ella Ling captured an image of tennis superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal holding hands while sobbing uncontrollably during the tribute paid to the former’s retirement from professional tennis. The photo went viral on social media, and journalists and fans were quick to embrace it as a corrective to what popular discourse refers to as “toxic masculinity.” I will analyze this photo as an iconic picture that captures the masculine zeitgeist of contemporary times. The image of the two male celebrities expressing affection and friendship is all the more significant given that failure in elite sports is usually tied to inability to manage emotions. This photo not only challenges prevailing norms around masculine behavior but also the way young athletes are socialized into sport (privileging hypermasculinity, dominance, and aggression). As a visual positive model of inclusive and of aging masculinities (compared to the infamous images of bravado of younger tennis stars such as Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev), this photo also makes great strides in presenting a forward-looking picture of Iberian aging masculinities. This is particularly crucial for Rafael Nadal’s celebrity brand, which is associated with a traditional form of manhood (his brand logo is “the raging bull” connoting masculinity, strength, and power), and who has been involved in sound polemics regarding his backwards views on gender equality.

Allegories of Aging Masculinity: The Myth of Don Quixote in Albert Serra’s Honor of the Knights

This article develops a discussion of Albert Serra’s Honor of the Knights (2006) and his radical interpretation of Don Quixote on a final journey before death. The analysis explores Serra’s portrayal of the quixotic myth and argues that the film demythologizes the literary figure and unveils underlying meanings that can be read from the perspective of gender and aging. The article argues that rather than divest the myth, Serra’s film recognizes the quixotic mythology and reclaims the elements of the character that cast Don Quixote as the prototype of the sorrowful errant knight. Drawing from discourses on masculinity and aging the reading explores how Serra’s avant-garde esthetics and minimalist dialogues present an intimate and contemporaneous portrayal of the characters. Don Quixote’s journey through the landscapes becomes an allegory for a life journey where aging and decline, and the ordinariness of life, are juxtaposed with the chivalric ideals of the wandering knight. The discussion will focus on aspects of the film narrative where the quixotic myth as archetype speaks to us and voices his concerns about defection and decline, which resonates with present collective anxieties about senectitude and the perils of old age.

Cocaine Cowboys: Visualizing Aging Masculinities in Galician Narco Noir

Arguably the most recognizable figure of Galician manhood on screen today is the aging drug kingpin, as the burgeoning cinematic genre of Galician narco noir exposes global audiences to Galicia’s key role as a gateway for the steady flow of cocaine into Europe. This article engages with current debates in aging, masculinities and disability studies to examine the depiction of the elderly male drug lords in two recent works pertaining to the Galician narco noir genre; Nemo Bandeira, protagonist of the series Vivir sin permiso (2018–2020), based on a short story by Manuel Rivas, and Antonio Padín from the film Quien a hierro mata (2019), a Galician-Spanish co-production directed by Paco Plaza. It is argued that the intersection of aging masculinities with illness and disability in the representation of older drug lords perpetuates but also renegotiates preconceptions about Galician manhood, reflecting broader issues relating to the representation and commodification of gender, age, illness, disability, and power in popular culture. In the context of the stereotypically “masculine” sphere of organized crime, analysis of how the older male demographic is represented in noir brings insight into the construction of Galician identities on screen more generally, signaling to perceptions of the wider societal impact of crime, corruption, and impunity in Galician society.

Social and Cultural Narratives of Aging Masculinities in Austria

Abstract: This paper summarizes findings from the Austrian research team of the MascAge Project involving online focus groups with Austrian men aged 65 and over and a case study in literary and cultural studies in the form of an analysis of David Schalko's novel Bad Regina (2021). Both analyses suggest that negotiations of (declining) power are central to understanding cultural and social constructions of aging masculinities in Austria in the early 2020s. This paper provides an insight into an interdisciplinary endeavor on current dimensions of aging men in Austria that contributes to a better understanding of current debates in Austrian Studies.

Aging masculinities in the countryside: a qualitative investigation of rural Chinese older men

Aging brings challenges for masculinity construction affecting older men in the countryside. The investigation of what and how rural older men negotiate their gendered identities in contemporary fast-changing societies contributes to the knowledge of aging masculinities. Taking a life-course perspective, this study explores how a group of rural Chinese older men negotiate masculinities and make sense of their aging lives. Twelve older men in a village located in southwest China participated in this study. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with the participants and collected their life stories which were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded following a thematic analysis approach. Analysis of the data suggests that rural Chinese older men created a having/being masculine plot while describing their transitions of family roles from providers to becoming helpers across their life courses. They struggled to maintain a sense of control when facing loss and vulnerability in later life and gendered norms in rural China contributed to their masculinity images. We discussed how the findings of this study, particularly intergenerational relations and narrative temporality in the construction of masculinities in later adulthood, contribute to both the research and practices regarding aging masculinities in rural areas.

The Aesthetics of Aging: Visual Strategies and Narrative Form in Tanizaki'sDiary of a Mad Old Man

AbstractThis essay reads Tanizaki Jun'ichirō’s controversial novel Diary of a Mad Old Man (1961) for its contribution to discourses about aging masculinity and male sexuality in later life. The Diary meditates on the mental and physical vicissitudes of aging masculinity, arousal, control, and impotence, focused through the fictional diarist Utsugi's physical ailments and expression of libidinal intensities. The article argues for Tanizaki's depiction of male aging as an exercise in both disenfranchisement and agentive potential. First, it reads the aging process through aesthetic and visual strategies, which magnify the protagonist's cultivation of masochistic pleasure as a specific correlative of aging. The article demonstrates that the narrative uses the rhetoric of cinema and photography—central terms of reference in Tanizaki's work—to frame Utsugi's experiences of old age, and inform his erotic fantasies as stylized, staged performances. In conjunction with these visual modes, the novel draws on traditional Japanese aesthetics to conceptualize the potential affect and perverse empowerment of the aging experience. Second, it addresses the implications of narrative form, as the self-reflexive, first-person diary prioritizes the subjectivity of Utsugi's male old age, while the novel's final pages interrupt and thus alter the diary's significance as a private account of self-expression.

Former Athletes' Illness Stories of Brain Injuries: Suspected Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and the Entanglement of Never‐Aging Masculinities

Examining former athletes' health‐related beliefs and behaviors on the long‐term effects of concussions and potentially developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) offers a domain to understand how men renegotiate their masculinities. In this paper, we explore how the cultural production of the concussion crisis shapes the ways in which men athletes make sense of self and their masculinity in the face of declining health. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with 27 male, former athletes, this article examines the multiple ways in which gender shapes their experience and treatment of traumatic brain injuries or suspected CTE. We show how men are re‐negotiating their aging masculinities through illness narratives and how the cultural production of the concussion crisis in sports shapes these narratives. We break down our analysis into three sections: (1) reflections of chaos narratives and stories of never‐aging masculinities, (2) the ways the concussion crisis shapes their restitution narratives, and (3) quest narratives combining never‐aging and aging masculinities. Whether or not these athletes have or are treated for CTE, we argue that they reformulate their masculinity to regain control over their manhood and to feel a sense of relief.

Analisis Semiotika John Fiske Mengenai Aging Masculinity pada Film Sejuta Sayang Untuknya


 The aging process always happens to men or women regardless of sex or gender. One of the things that is always attached and related to gender is masculinity. The definition of masculinity is a culturally influenced social thought and practice about how to shape male traits. The hegemony of masculinity that is dominated by young men causes masculinity in older men to be considered demasculinized or the loss of masculinity. The depiction of aging masculinity in Indonesian film media has recently dared to break the stigma of masculinity dominated by young men. One of the Indonesian films, Sejuta Sayang Untuknya, directed by Herwin Novianto, tells about family issues regarding the struggle of an elderly single father in raising and caring for his only daughter amid economic difficulties. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach with John Fiske's semiotic analysis method to convey codes and deep meanings in the movie. The researcher's goal is to represent how aging masculinity in the movie Sejuta Sayang Untuknya, especially in the character of Aktor Sagala as a single father. The results of this study found that there are 6 scenes related to twilight masculinity analyzed using John Fiske's three stages of semiotics including the level of reality, level of representation, and level of ideology.
 Keywords: Representation, Aging Masculinity, John Fiske Semiotics, Film.

Redeeming Grandfather: Aging Masculinity in Colombian Films

ABSTRACT: This article explores aging masculinity in two Colombian films: Rubén Mendoza’s Tierra en la lengua ( Dust on the Tongue , 2014) and Henry Rincón’s La ciudad de las fieras ( The City of Wild Beasts , 2021). It analyzes the common threads of aging, illness, masculinity, and the difficulty of passing on traditions to argue that the films depict grandfatherhood in a way that reexamines and ultimately reinforces certain patriarchal attributes, such as strength and resilience, albeit in new guises. I examine how the landscape, which plays a prominent role in both films, is represented in a way that complicates the idea of masculinity in the context of social violence. This study contributes to the understanding of how Colombian cinema navigates and portrays male roles amid the enduring impact of social and political violence.

Caring masculinities at work in later life: Exploring relational care work in retirement

AbstractThe paper reports on research that investigates older men's care practices and how their caring for others opens new ways of exploring the intersections of aging, gender, and care work. Using the concept caring masculinities as a sensitizing concept, the onus is on exploring patterns of power, interdependence, and relationality within men's care practices. Aging masculinities often remain constructed around paid‐for occupational work (in opposition to unpaid care work) despite the transition into retirement. Little work exists on how caring is at work in later life potentially transforming gender relations and enacted masculinities. Moreover, much of the research on aging masculinities have not considered the expansiveness of retirement and the discourses as well as subjective expectations around the activity in later life that create an uncertain terrain of socioculturally structured mandates to be navigated. This paper draws on data from two qualitative interview studies conducted with retired men in England and Germany, in which the role of caregiving emerged as an inductive theme in their narratives. The paper makes a specific contribution to developing empirical and theoretical knowledge of caring masculinities and power relations by providing insights on men's trajectories into caring, and how they make sense of their caring for and about others.

Book Review: Aging Masculinities in Contemporary U.S. Fiction

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Foodwork as Foodplay: New Aging Masculinities in Bollywood Cinema

Foodwork as Foodplay: New Aging Masculinities in Bollywood Cinema

Wedded to the land? Representations of rural ageing masculinities in Irish culture and society

This article explores the interactions between social constructions and cultural representations of rural ageing masculinities in Ireland. Constructions of Irish masculinities have historically been linked to rural, farming identities emphasising physicality, self-reliance, patrilineal inheritance and traditional (Catholic) family values. Central to such constructions in many classic works of Irish literature, drama and film has been the powerful role of the father and the imperative of the land. While there is a burgeoning literature on masculinities in Irish literary, cultural and sociological studies, there are however few studies on the intersection of age and masculinities, or across disciplines. This article seeks to address this critical gap in relation to rural masculinities through close readings of significant texts from Irish literature and film, as well as through focus group discussions of men aged 65+ living in Ireland about their views on such images. Taking an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach, it thus offers an overview of cultural constructions of ageing rural masculinities and explores how such representations inform models of ageing in contemporary Ireland.

Performing Classical Masculinities and Old Age: Josep Maria Pou in Alberto Iglesias and Mario Gas’s Sócrates. Juicio y muerte de un ciudadano

This article analyzes the representation of classic aging masculinities in Mario Gas and Alberto Iglesias’s play Sócrates. Juicio y muerte de un ciudadano (2015), featuring the leading performance of Catalan actor Josep Maria Pou. I will examine the physicality of Pou’s idiosyncratic bodily performance upon the stage in order to discuss how age is construed as a means to reinforce the Greek philosopher’s masculinity, as expressed in his use of rhetoric, his questioning of writing vs orality, and his final acceptance of death.

Studying constructions of aging manhood: Methodological considerations

The study of aging masculinity benefits from theories of intersecting inequality and attention to context, and also from methodological care. Theory can help to avoid reification of naturalized distinctions by age and by sex; and methodological rigor can avoid imputations of old masculinity to activities that other people do just as much. We revisit published research to outline theory and methods that minimize risk of reification and false distinction. We review theories of intersecting inequalities (age and gender) as well as institutional context; and we focus on methods that require either explicit mention of gender by those studied or direct comparison of old men to others. We offer several examples of how we can distinguish aging masculinities by using these methods, from interview research to the study of popular culture. Comparisons of white, middle-aged men in Finland to men in the U.S., and contrast of the U.S. men to U.S. women, reveal patterns in their constructions of manhood in later life, in realms of health, anti-aging, and caregiving. We point to the importance of both intersectionality and attention to contexts, such as welfare states, which shape aging manhood.

Aging masculinities in Austria: Social realities and cultural representations

Combining theoretical perspectives and analytical methods from the social sciences and literary studies, this interdisciplinary paper discusses key findings of online focus groups conducted with Austrian men aged 65+ as well as ‘media logbooks’ they kept. Within the frameworks of the EU Gender-Net Project MascAge (Analyzing Social Constructions of Aging Masculinities and their Cultural Representations in Contemporary European Literatures and Cinemas), older men of diverse backgrounds met online to reflect on their aging and its intersections with gender. Analyzing these conversations, the paper showcases older men's personal experiences of aging as well as their societal implications. We put forward the hypothesis that the understanding of aging, and aging masculinities in particular, of Austrian men 65+ primarily revolves around the idea of power. Most importantly, they conceive of the aging process as a ‘power game’ in which one frequently loses, ideally maintains, and – in exceptional cases only – gains power. The paper outlines how both personal experiences and engagement with media representations of aging relate to cultural ideals of old men as figures of authority. In doing so, the paper critically examines these stereotypical notions of aging masculinities as well as older men's potential to subvert them through a narrative process.

A Bibliotherapeutic discourse on aging and masculinity in continuing care retirement communities

This paper examined how the use of literary works in bibliotherapy groups for older men promotes discourse on aging and masculinity. Two groups of men from two different CCRCs in Israel participated in the study. Each group underwent 10 bibliotherapy sessions. Following reading aloud of literary works on aging, the participants were invited to share their reflections upon their life, inspired by the creations. An abductive analysis pointed to the central role of the literary elements in encouraging self-expressions among the participants. A qualitative content analysis revealed three themes, which indicate that the literary elements: (a) Encourage the expression of loss; (b) Allow participants to express aspects of positive aging; and (c) Promote insights regarding the acceptance of the aging process. In addition, an analysis focusing on aspects of form revealed four responses to literary elements: (a) Direct metaphors in line with the literary works' interpretations; (b) Creating new meaning for the original metaphors; (c) Expressing conflicting emotions through oxymorons; and (d) Relying on the authors' biographies as an extra-textual context for reflections. The study reflects an inter-disciplinary approach to promote expressions of aging masculinity, and to understand them in bibliotherapeutic groups of older affluent men.