Constructing old age: between stereotypes and reality
https://doi.org/10.24290/1029-3736-2026-32-2-180-203
Abstract
This article analyzes the social construction of old age. The author notes that, despite the topic's relevance in the context of global population aging, science has not developed uniform criteria or clear chronological boundaries for defining old age. Accordingly, this study deliberately avoids setting rigid age boundaries. Its focus is not on pinpointing a specific age threshold, but on analyzing old age as a social construct and a process of self-determination.
The central focus of the research is the historical evolution of the concept of old age, reconstructed using sociological, linguistic, cultural, and narratological analysis. The author traces a transformation in perception: from the traditional view of the elderly as exclusive bearers of wisdom to the contemporary situation where this status is being questioned. This meaning of aging is formed in the public sphere through the clash of established narratives and new languages for describing late life. The historical path—from the cult of wisdom to the stigma of frailty—has led to the duality characteristic of our time, where the public rhetoric of «active longevity» paradoxically combines with the euphemistic exclusion of old age itself from discourse and the dominance of the cult of youth.
The conclusion argues that the contemporary task is not simply to replace one simplified stereotype (such as helplessness) with another normative ideal (like «successful aging»). A genuine understanding of late age requires deconstructing rigid schemas and recognizing its inherent diversity. A key finding is the need to legitimize the right to an individual, subjectively meaningful aging trajectory, free from the dictate of ready-made social scripts.
About the Author
E. N. NovoselovaRussian Federation
Novoselova Elena N., PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor of the Department of the Family and Demography, Faculty of Sociology
Leninsky Gory, 1-33, Moscow, 119234
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Review
For citations:
Novoselova E.N. Constructing old age: between stereotypes and reality. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 18. Sociology and Political Science. 2026;32(2):180-203. https://doi.org/10.24290/1029-3736-2026-32-2-180-203
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