Gender and perception of the middle age

Abstract

The theoretical framework of the sociological analysis conducted for the purpose of this publication is the gender approach. Its aim was to find signs of the influence of the patriarchal culture on perceptions of middle age in relation to own category of gender of respondents and to show what this influence is.
It is hypothesized that differences in the perception of the middle phase of life between men and women are related to the unequal status of gender in patriarchal society based on specific power relationships between categories of gender and patriarchal conceptions of femininity and masculinity. According to them a process of socialization of the young generation goes and the social expectations of women and men are formulated, including their age (gendered age). Empirically observed in many studies perceptions of middle age in terms of the crisis, especially by men, would be in their case associated with the expected by them risk of possibility of loss their subjective social and the ideal of masculinity. The positive image of this phase of life would be associated with a sense of self-realization and / or fulfillment of expectations regarding the male role in society. In the patriarchal social order perceived threat of loss of real subjective status does not apply, for obvious reasons, to objectified women. Their perception of middle age can, however, be associated with a sense of advancement of the process of women’s empowerment and / or the degree of satisfaction with the realization of the patriarchal ideal of femininity.