Open AccessElderly Lebanese Women in an Aging World
Author(s) -
Abla Mehio Sibai,
May A. Beydoun
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
al-raida
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2226-4841
pISSN - 0259-9953
DOI - 10.32380/alrj.v0i0.637
Subject(s) - life expectancy , soul , demography , gerontology , psychology , menopause , expectancy theory , turning point , history , gender studies , sociology , medicine , period (music) , social psychology , art , philosophy , theology , population , aesthetics
The turning point at which aging begins is ill defined, and the question arises as to whether there can be an age for aging (Tout, 1989). Old age is culturally determined and varies with time, person and place. Philosophers, long time ago, defined old age as the time when the individual reaches his highest point of development. According to Hippocrates, this is reached at 56, to Aristotle at 35 for the body and 50 for the soul and to Dante at 45 (De Beauvoir, 1972). In some cultures, aged is equaled with menopause in females, and in others men are not regarded as old until they are retired. Old age is perceived differently in Bangladesh where life expectancy at birth is 49 years than in Sweden or Japan where life expectancy at birth exceeds 77 years.