Th volume celebration paper Age-identities and the celebration of birthdays

Bill Bytheway's paper, ‘Demographic statistics and old age ideology’, was published in Volume 1 of Ageing & Society (part 3: 347–64). Bill was the Editor during 1997–2001

Bibliographic Data

ID11202195
AuthorsBill Bytheway (The Open University, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume25
Issue4
Pages463-477
Publication date2005-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgeing and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0144686x05003831
OpenAlexW1942809383
LanguageEN
Citations received13

In a paper in the January issue of this volume of Ageing & Society , Eric Midwinter argued that ‘much can be learned from re-drawing the demographic map with social rather than chronological contours’. This opinion reflects a widespread view among social gerontologists that chronological age is an ‘empty’ variable, even though it is central to the construction of social identities, both in bureaucratic contexts and in less formal social interaction. This paper draws on material stored in the Mass-Observation Archive at the University of Sussex, England. A large panel of ‘ordinary people’ was asked to write about ‘growing older’ in 1992 and about ‘birthdays’ in 2002. An analysis of the ways in which they revealed their age demonstrates that the revelation of chronological age is unproblematic in certain contexts that are deemed appropriate. Difficulties arise as a result of the association of age with various more nebulous statuses such as ‘middle-aged’ and ‘old’. The implications for the concept of ‘the third age’ are discussed and it is concluded that social gerontology should pay more attention to the theoretical significance of chronological age and age-identity and less to age statuses

Aesthetics · Bureaucracy · Identity (music) · Political science · Sociology · Aging and Gerontology Research · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Law · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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