Mulheres na meia-idade: corpos, envelhecimentos e feminilidades

Abstract

This work proposes the interlacement of the categories body, gender and aging, seeking to understand how the femininity is constructed in maturity. The corpus of this research is composed of middle-aged women who attend a gym, based on the relationships established with their bodies and their representations of female aging. Although studies on aging had proliferated around the world and most notably in Brazil, still there are few ones which turn specifically to maturity or middle age, seen only as a transition from youth to old age, not holding its own status. However it is clear that this phase is very significant, especially for women with certain prohibitions and given cultural standards. Thus, at least in the imagination and the social representations, femininity and sexuality itself whether female or male are almost always associated to youth. This study, developed through an ethnographic methodology in a gym, pursuits to fill this space, trying to understand the social and cultural meanings attributed by women to this period of life and, from the caring relationship with their bodies, how happens the construction/reconstruction of their self-image and femininity.