Gender Typing and Androgyny in Later Life

This paper assesses two theoretical perspectives on gender typing among the aged and suggests promising areas for future work. Gutmann’s role reversal theory and Sinnott’s role blurring (androgyny) theory are examined with the goal of illuminating some concepts, methodological strategies and substan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human development 1982-02, Vol.25 (2), p.116-139
Main Authors: McGee, Jeanne, Wells, Kathleen
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:This paper assesses two theoretical perspectives on gender typing among the aged and suggests promising areas for future work. Gutmann’s role reversal theory and Sinnott’s role blurring (androgyny) theory are examined with the goal of illuminating some concepts, methodological strategies and substantive considerations necessary for an analysis of gender typing in later life. A multidimensional conceptualization of gender typing and phenomenologically oriented investigations is advocated. A sociological perspective is developed to complement the psychological emphasis of current research. Particular attention is paid to joint effects of sexism and ageism, patterns of continuity and change in gender typing for each sex in old age, and the impact of demographic change.
ISSN:0018-716X
1423-0054
DOI:10.1159/000272792