Social Gerontology
Definition
Due to the worldwide aging of the population and the increasing share of older persons, the study of social gerontology is more critical than ever. It is essential to understand that aging is a process that affects people from birth and lasts a lifetime. It is a continual process that happens throughout a person’s life path, not only in the last years of life. From early infancy until old age, the theories and practices of aging in society are applicable. Knowing these processes can assist in developing measures to support healthy aging across the life cycle and appreciate the diversity of aging experiences.
Social gerontology is the study of the social, cultural, and economic facets of aging. It aims to comprehend the effects of aging on people, families, communities, and older folks’ experiences. Childhood play is a crucial environment for establishing these standards since socialization to age norms is connected with how people learn and exhibit gender norms. The study of aging and older persons from a social viewpoint is called social gerontology.
Interdisciplinary Scope and Research Areas
It covers various aging-related themes, such as the social and cultural elements, how older people experience society, and the social policies and programs that impact them. It is founded on the concepts and procedures used in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and other social sciences. Social ties, economic position, and cultural perspectives on aging are just a few social aspects that social gerontologists research to understand better how people age.
Social Impacts and Perceptions of Aging
The consequences of retirement on social and psychological well-being, the function of social networks in preserving health and well-being in later life, and the impacts of ageism and age discrimination on older persons are just a few of the critical study areas in social gerontology. Social gerontologists also examine how older people are portrayed in popular culture and the media and how these portrayals affect public perceptions of aging and older people. When people go from childhood to youth to maturity and finally old age, these impressions can impact them.
Understanding Aging Across the Life Span
Aging is a natural, continuing process that happens at all stages of life, not only in old age. The aging process can include biological changes, such as decreased physical capabilities, cognitive changes, and social roles and relationship adjustments. Consequently, it might be crucial for people at all stages of life to comprehend the ideas and processes involved in aging. For example, it can assist older persons in better navigating the changes and difficulties that come with aging, as well as young people in developing empathy and respect for older folks. In addition, it may help with decisions about retirement, health care, and other matters that concern individuals of all ages.
Aging and Gender Socialization
Peer Cliques and the Formation of Gendered Identities
The readings by Thorne and Fine emphasize how gendered conduct is shaped by peer cultures and play during childhood. Thorne stresses the role that peer cultures play in determining gendered identity and behavior, contending that children pick up gendered norms and behaviors via their interactions with peers. Patterns of human development are essential in shaping a child’s worldview and folk beliefs.
A child’s skills change throughout time, whether or not development is thought of in terms of stages; these changes are generally predictable and invariant, and they both cause and reflect changes in the child’s social environment (Fine 103). These biological and social variables internally and externally constrain a child’s conduct, expectations, and presumptions of appropriate behavior. These factors make up the child’s imperatives of development.
The Role of Age and Gender in Socialization
In Thorne’s article “Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School,” the author argues that gender socialization begins early and is reinforced by social institutions such as schools. Thorne also notes that in middle school, gender becomes a central category for defining and structuring peer relationships. This is evident in the way that girls and boys in middle school engage in gendered behaviors and activities that reinforce traditional gender roles and expectations.
Similarly, Fine’s article discusses how gendered socialization in childhood sets the stage for gender inequality in adulthood. Girls are more focused on relationships and less assertive, while boys are socialized to be more competitive and independent (Wellin). These gendered expectations are reinforced in school settings where boys are encouraged to be more aggressive and dominant while girls are expected to be more cooperative and accommodating. In educational environments, boys are taught to be more assertive and domineering, while girls are supposed to be more cooperative and accommodating; these gendered expectations are reinforced.
The work by Eder et al. lends credence to the notion that socialization processes are influenced by both gender and age. The authors demonstrate how middle-school kids create gender- and sexuality-based status systems and how these status systems influence peer relationships and meanings (Eder). Boys are evaluated on their athleticism and power, while girls are frequently judged on their attractiveness and compliance with gendered stereotypes.
These readings emphasize how crucial it is to comprehend how age and gender play a part in socialization. Through social institutions like schools, gendered expectations, and behaviors are reinforced throughout early life, and these patterns persist into adult relationships and interactions. Institutions like schools may seek to lessen the detrimental effects of gender relations and encourage equal and cooperative relationships amongst students by understanding these processes.
Age Progression and the Evolution of Gender Relations
Children’s gendered actions and expectations change through various developmental stages. Thorne points out that boys and girls are likelier to play together and partake in comparable activities in the early years. Yet, gender segregation and gendered behaviors become more evident as kids get closer to puberty. Although both boys and girls participate in gender and sexuality-based status hierarchies, there are differences in the behaviors and expectations that go along with these hierarchies between the genders.
Implications for Understanding Gender Socialization
The readings provided insight into how crucial it is to comprehend how learning and showing gender and age standards are interwoven throughout early socialization. These studies demonstrate how middle school cliques and extracurricular activities allow kids to negotiate and engage in gendered behaviors through play and peer cultures. The necessity of adhering to gender norms, the use of language to maintain gendered hierarchies, and the preference for masculinity over femininity are some common themes of gendered behavior across the texts.
Girls experience more pressure to adhere to gendered standards as gendered interactions grow more rigid and hierarchical as youngsters become older. These gendered interactions are not set in stone, though, and organizations like schools have the power to design activities that will lessen their unfavorable effects. As Eder says, encouraging cooperative rather than competitive play might assist in lessening gendered hierarchies and fostering more harmonious relationships between children of various sexes. Ultimately, the readings have shown how critical it is to comprehend how children socialize regarding their age and gender, as well as how institutions may influence these experiences for the better.
Works Cited
Eder, Donna et al. School Talk: Gender and Adolescent Culture. Rutgers University Press, 1995.
Fine, Gary Alan. With the Boys: Little League Baseball and Preadolescent Culture. The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Thorne, Barrie. Gender Play Girls and Boys in School. Rutgers University Press, 1993.
Wellin, Chris. “School Talk and Ethnographic Research in Schools”. SOC 211: Social Gerontology.