The aim of this master thesis is to create an understanding of what it can be like to grow older as a homosexual man in Sweden today. The study has an intersectional and queer theoretical approach and is based on eight in depth interviews with men who are aged between 68 and 82 years old. In the analysis I deal with the problem of how sexuality can be inter- preted with the experience of aging. Central to the analysis is the criticism of norms connected to age, sexuality, social- and family life and gay culture. The results show that the norm-breaking sexual orientation of the men affects their life path in terms of how to organize social life, where friends often replace the traditional family. New ways of forming relationships and living their lives imply other obligations rather than the traditional for significant others, which was shown to influence the expectations and outcome of old age in terms of care and support. The results also show what terms are required for participating in gay culture and that economic resources and age affect the opportunities of such participation, which can influ- ence the experience of aging. The men in the study are aging under different conditions to the het- erosexual men of the same age since they are not only confronted with ageism but also with being different from the heterosexual norm. This combination of power structures affects the experience and also the expectations of aging and it’s effects are strongest in vulnerable situations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-231604 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Gyll, Janna |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Centrum för genusvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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