‘It's our turn to play’: performance of girlhood as a collective response to gendered ageism

Abstract

In our society that values men over women and youth over old age, sexism and ageism intersect to erode women's status more rapidly and severely than men's. However, limited attention is given to women's responses to their devaluation, particularly collective efforts to either resist or accommodate dominant beliefs about ageing women. We examine membership in the Red Hat Society, an international organisation for middle-aged and older women, as a response to gendered ageism. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with members (N = 52), our analysis focuses on the group's ‘performance of girlhood’, which involves adopting children's social roles, dressing up and playing. We examine its resonance with a dominant cultural metaphor for old age as ‘second childhood’, illustrating how it not only provides opportunities for resistance to gendered ageism but also contributes to its entrenchment. The behaviours constitute a performative act that resists gendered ageism by increasing ageing women's visibility and asserting their right to leisure. However, its accommodative features reproduce inequality by valuing youth over old age and depicting older women as girls engaging in frivolous activities, which can be seen as obstructing social change.

Multiple Marginalizations Based on Age: Gendered Ageism and Beyond

“…However, the presence of power relations in assumptions about gendered ageism appears in studies which emphasize counter-power, or strategies against ageism. One example is Barrett and Naiman-Sessions' (2016) focus on how the simulation of girlhood by the so-called Red Hat Society, in the forms of adopting children's social roles, dressing up, and playing, constitutes a performative act that resists gendered ageism by increasing ageing women's visibility and asserting their right to leisure. At the same time, they argue, it can be seen as resonance with a dominant cultural metaphor for old age as a "second childhood" and therefore not only provides opportunities for resistance to gendered ageism but also contributes to its entrenchment.…”

“…One recurrent definition describes it as a double jeopardy, where two interacting power systems lead to an increased vulnerability (cf. Barrett and Naiman-Sessions 2016;Handy and Davy 2007;Walker 1998). In gendered ageism, the perspective of double jeopardy emphasizes the dominance of patriarchal norms combined with a preoccupation with youth that results in a faster deterioration of older women's status compared to that of men (Barrett and Naiman-Sessions 2016).…”

Rebellious eating: older women misbehaving through indulgence

“…These older women eat rebelliously by monthly indulging in public with friends, which is in stark contrast to stereotypes of prim old ladies fading into the background. The women are rebellious when they subvert typical girlhood activities by combining them with mature objects and themes (Barrett and Naiman-Sessions, 2016). Common chapter activities include tea parties (with alcohol) and pajama breakfasts at local restaurants.…”

Forever ‘Becoming’? Negotiating Gendered and Ageing Embodiment in Everyday Life

“…Not only is this a means through which she overtly genders her bodily practices, but there is a contrast and sometimes a slippage between her use of ‘girly’ – implying youth and ‘girlhood’ alongside reminders of her age through discussion of anti-ageing products – the ‘Botox in a bottle’. In a similar vein to Barrett and Naiman-Sessions’ (2016) interpretation of women who participate in the ‘Red Hat Society’, Samantha’s invoking of girlhood could be construed as reproducing ‘inequality by valuing youth over old age and depicting older women as girls engaging in frivolous activities’ (p. 764). However, there is more to her actions than this interpretation allows for.…”