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Ageing, masculinity and Parkinson's disease: embodied perspectives
Author(s) -
Gibson Grant,
Kierans Ciara
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.12508
Subject(s) - embodied cognition , masculinity , narrative , psychology , gender studies , schema (genetic algorithms) , experiential learning , meaning (existential) , watson , sociology , social psychology , psychotherapist , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics education , artificial intelligence , machine learning , natural language processing , computer science
Abstract Parkinson's disease ( PD ) presents as an illness which predominantly affects older men. However older men's lived experiences of PD , including how they are influenced by age and gender relations has seen little empirical study. Drawing on Watson's male body schema, this paper explores how men engage with masculinities and ageing in order to make sense and meaning from PD . Data is presented from 30 narrative and semi structured interviews with 15 men of various ages who were living with PD . Findings suggest that PD threatens a visceral embodiment located in the body's basic movements and intimate functions; a pragmatic embodiment expressed through men's everyday occupations and an experiential embodiment concerned with emotions and sensations felt within and through the body. In addition, each dimension of men's embodiment also intersected with the ageing process, a process also shaped in turn by broader social and cultural concerns regarding the positions and possibilities of men's lives as they move through the life course. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of gender and ageing in understanding men's experiences of PD