Abstract
This poster presents the findings of a qualitative study on men’s experience of aging that was conducted in Québec with 24 men aged 65 to 92. Their experience was examined from a subjective and reflexive (relationship to the self, body, others) point of view and based on the conduct of actors in their daily environment and the public arena (Dubet 1994). We will show that older men experience grief associated with aging, especially losses linked to the body in terms of physical aptitudes/performance, sexuality and sex appeal. They see themselves as increasingly unable to meet expectations associated with the hegemonic model of masculinity, in other words, the dominant standards and values concerning masculinity (Thompson and Wearthy 2004), which can be translated into the traditionally male qualities of emotional control, strength, and competitiveness (Roy 2008). Paradoxically, their susceptibility to the hegemonic standards of masculinity, which causes them to experience aging in terms of loss, is also what inspires these men to (re)act, and exercise what could be called their power to act. Faced with the loss of power over their body, older men develop various strategies, which change over time, to negotiate the effects of aging. Of these, the principal ones are: recreating a significant social network: volunteer work or taking on short-term jobs 2) changing reference group: comparing themselves favourably to men of their age instead of to younger men as they did before; 3) redefining the notion of age – physical age does not correspond to their mental age.