The population in the Nordic countries has a tendency to an increased average life expectancy, and this makes age a central dimension in the Nordic welfare-states. In a Nordic perspective "older" and "ageing" men and masculinities are a relatively unexplored field. This workshop aims at querying imaginations and representations of ageing as exclusively a problem and an inconvenience, and instead looks at potentials and privileges attributed to ageing persons. Many men in positions of power are beyond middle-age. But ageing and getting older can imply a contrast in relation to imaginations of what it means to be a man and representations of masculinity, especially in relation to power and the body. Ageing can imply changing gender relations at home, for example when men take care of their partner. This workshop aims at investigating and discussing ageing, men, and masculinities form a broad perspective regarding the functioning/disfunctioning body, representations, experiences, shaping of identity, homosexuality, policy, and welfare.

Possible questions for papers and discussions could be:

How are intersections between age, health, and disablement managed by the welfare-state, and which problems need managing?

How do elderly men position themselves in relation to imaginations of "normal" heterosexuality and embodiment?

How can a HBT/queer-perspective open representations and understandings of ageing which are taken for granted?

How does (un)healthiness and disablement influence men's shaping of identity during a life cycle and between generations?

How can ageing and (un)healthiness be understood in relation to men, masculinity, and power?

Workshop participants and titles of paper presentations:

Thursday 29/1:

Ph.d.-student Linn Sandberg, Linköping University: Getting initimate: Age, Masculinity and new Heterosexual Morphologies.

Ph.d. James G. Rice, University of Iceland: We only help women with children here: Male clients at an Icelandic material aid charity.

Jüri Uljas, Mainor Business School, Tallinn University, Estonia: Men’s Identity and Ontological Security (Based on survey  on men’s mental health factors).

S. M. Cruise, Queen’s University, Belfast: Mixing art and science: Designing an interactive research tool on teenage men and pregnancy.

Fredag 30/1 at 10.30-12.15:

Ph.d.-student May-Linda Magnussen, University of Agder, and professor Ulla-Britt Lilleaas, Helse og idrettsfag, University of Agder: Maskulinitet(er), arbeid og helse.

Ph.d. O. Michael Spaten, and M. Sc. Mia Nørremark Byrialsen, Dept. of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University: Om mænd sorg og mening ved et tab.

Friday 30/1 at 13.15-15.00:

Professor Ulla-Britt Lilleaas, Helse og idrettsfag, Universitety of Agder: Forsørgeransvar, arbeidsliv og menns helse.

Film

Download abstracts for this workshop here.