Sex integration and ageism

Sex integration and ageism is the intermixing of people or groups previously separated on the basis of sex and age. Ageism is stereotyping. Sex integration is an effort to undue societal or social sex segregation, here where it applies to ageism. "Evolutionary theorists argue that a man's preference for younger women is the result of evolution selecting on male preferences that increase the probability that he will have offspring", but this may be a gendered double standard of aging.
Sex Integration
A form of sex integration is the intermixing of people or groups previously segregated on the basis of sex. During childhood development sex differences, gender identity and labeling may lead to some sex segregation. Automatic sex integration may occur during and after development naturally as indicated by studies of such early peoples as the San people of southern Africa, where individuals of either sex are relatively equal and the society egalitarian.
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice and discrimination. This may be casual or systematic. An older man's preference for younger women may be ageism or a desire to produce children that a menopausal or post-menopausal woman cannot as yet offer. An older woman's preference for younger men may be ageism based on the belief that younger men are more virile, but it is also sex integration where a pattern of such becomes older people preferring younger people.
Jeunism
Jeunism is the discrimination against older people in favor of younger ones. This includes political candidacies, jobs, and cultural settings where the supposed greater vitality and/or physical beauty of youth is more appreciated than the supposed greater moral and/or intellectual rigor of adulthood.
Age disparity in sexual relationships
“Most studies examining fertility status suggest a relationship between male age and fertility, but the results are most likely confounded by female partner age.” Increased male age may be associated with a decline in semen volume, sperm motility, and sperm morphology, but not with sperm concentration. “Most analyses of age-related changes in fertility cannot separate effects due to reduced frequency of sexual intercourse from effects directly related to ageing.”
Gerontocracy
A gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. Often the political structure is such that political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, so that the oldest hold the most power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are.
For older, established men, the first choice is for younger, arguably more attractive women.
In cultures—like the modern Western culture—where divorce is common, older women may command sexual power separate from or in addition to their physical appearance, often on terms similar to males (finances, dominance, etc.).
Studies on long-term partner preferences of older women tend toward peer-group or similarly aged males in Western culture although exceptions may depend on individual competitiveness.
"Not once across all ages and countries...did females show a preference for males significantly younger than male preferences for females" and there is a "consistent cross-cultural preference by women for at least same-age or significantly older men." A 2003 AARP study brings results that 34% of forty-year and older women are dating younger men.
The proportion of women in England and Wales marrying younger men rose from 15% to 26% between 1963 and 1998.
Testing sex integration
A study of women asked to engage in or follow male preferences for about five years indicates that women may be constrained by cultural expectations such as motherhood and 'ethic of care', but in their late 50s they might be less constrained and have more freedom of choice.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu