Open AccessQueering generativity and futurity: LGBTQ2IA+ stories of resistance, resurgence, and resilience
Author(s) -
May Chazan,
Melissa Baldwin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of ageing and later life
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.341
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 1652-8670
DOI - 10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.1574
Subject(s) - queer , generativity , gender studies , lesbian , pride , sociology , heteronormativity , queer theory , transgender , vulnerability (computing) , aesthetics , psychology , social psychology , political science , art , computer security , computer science , law
A preoccupation with heteronormative metrics of success in aging leaves many studies of “LGBT aging” focused on the needs, failings, and vulnerabilities of older LGBTQ2IA+ people (i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, two-spirit, intersex, asexual, and people of other nonnormative sexual and gender expressions). As a result, LGBTQ2IA+ olders are frequently depicted as isolated, re-closeted, or simply nonexistent. Heeding calls to intervene into such bleak and pathologizing portrayals of queer/ trans aging (e.g. Ramirez-Valles 2016; Sandberg & Marshall 2017), this article explores diverse subjectivities, nonnormative aging experiences, and their potential intergenerational implications. It draws on stories of queerness, gender, aging, futurity, and social change from 13 LGBTQ2IA+ people ranging in age from 23 to 74, recorded in an intergenerational research-generation workshop held in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough, Canada) in 2018. This article argues that queer and trans stories are crucial to confronting the erasure of LGBTQ2IA+ aging, aiming to extend ongoing efforts within aging studies to queer concepts of successful aging, aging futures, generativity, and intergenerationality. Ultimately, this article aims to complicate constricted understandings of queer/trans aging, instead of depicting LGBTQ2IA+ people aging with connection, pride, learning, and purpose, as well as with struggle and vulnerability.