Centre of Studies on Geography and Spatial Planning (CEGOT) and Department of Geography and Tourism, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Colégio de São Jerónimo, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3004-530, Portugal.
Centre of Studies on Geography and Spatial Planning (CEGOT) and Department of Geography and Tourism, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Colégio de São Jerónimo, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3004-530, Portugal.
J Aging Stud. 2021 Jun;57:100938. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100938. Epub 2021 May 7.
While the government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across the globe, there has been a unifying cry from academia and public health professionals warning of the detrimental effects of attaching our understanding of this new threat to our already ageist attitudes. What is inescapable is that COVID-19 has an age-related risk component and the latest data shows that risks start to rise for people from midlife onwards. As governance agencies, professional practice, and academia work towards assessing, communicating, and addressing this risk, we ask: are existing gerontological conceptualisations of ageism appropriate for this exceptional situation and what is being (re)produced in terms of an aged subjectivity? Following van Dyk's (2016) critique of gerontology's 'othering' through both 'glorification' (third age) and 'abjection' (fourth age), a content analysis of statements and policy documents issued in response to COVID-19 provides evidence of well-meaning and inadvertent ageism through homogenizing language, the abjection/glorification binary within 'old age', and the power binary constructed between age and an age-neutral midlife. The paper concludes with reflections on future directions for ageism research beyond COVID-19.
虽然全球各国政府对 COVID-19 大流行的反应各不相同，但学术界和公共卫生专业人员发出了一致的呼声，警告说将我们对这一新威胁的理解附加到我们已经存在的年龄歧视态度上会产生有害影响。不可避免的是，COVID-19 具有与年龄相关的风险因素，最新数据显示，从中年开始，人们的风险开始上升。随着治理机构、专业实践和学术界努力评估、沟通和应对这一风险，我们不禁要问：现有的老年学对年龄歧视的概念化是否适用于这种特殊情况，以及在老年主体方面产生了哪些（重新）影响？继 van Dyk（2016）对老年学通过“美化”（第三年龄）和“贬低”（第四年龄）进行“他者化”的批判之后，对针对 COVID-19 发布的声明和政策文件进行的内容分析提供了证据，证明了通过同质化语言、“老年”内部的贬低/美化二分法以及在年龄和中性的中年之间构建的权力二分法，存在善意但不经意的年龄歧视。本文最后对 COVID-19 之后超越年龄歧视研究的未来方向进行了反思。
