Etarismo feminino: possibilidades e desafios de enfrentamento para o serviço social

Abstract

Ageism is prejudice based on age, while gendered ageism goes beyond age discrimination, as it is accompanied by misogyny, gender discrimination, male chauvinism, and gendered ageist hate speech. This discrimination historically comes from a patriarchal structure integrating a social and cultural system that values male authority as supreme and objectifies the female subject. Women are considered subjects of disuse as they age, soon becoming socially invisible, for this reason, the victim does not accept their natural aging process, which can generate insecurity, isolation, and mental health problems. This pattern is fueled by the capitalist system, through large industries that aim for profit, thus imposing an aesthetic based on youth and pointing out the aging subject as unproductive and disposable. Therefore, this research aims to understand how female ageism is characterized in Brazil, in order to give visibility to this expression of the social issue, the respective possibilities and challenges for society and the scope of Social Work to face it. In methodological terms, the research is characterized as exploratory with a qualitative approach, of a documentary nature, supported by a bibliographic review, using the critical dialectical method, to present a critical interpretation of the concrete reality. An exploratory survey was also carried out on the news website of the national network G1. Regarding the documentary sources, regulatory and guiding documents of the Social Work profession were used, as well as Bills that deal with ageism in progress at federal, state, and municipal levels. Thus, it was possible to recognize that the practice of gendered ageism is recurrent, and it is characterized in contemporary society by expressions such as hatred of female aging, at various levels of society, accompanied by misogyny, male chauvinism, and gender discrimination, commonly beginning after the age of 30 and reaching its peak at the age of 50.