‘My Body Feels Old’: Seniors’ Discursive Constructions of Aging-as-Disabling
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Keywords
phenomenology, lived experience, discourse
Abstract
Social gerontology and disability studies have made similar but separate arguments for ways to study aging and disability, respectively. This study of interviews with seniors finds that seniors characterize aging as disabling and position both identity constructions as negative. The article argues for the use of disability theory and discourse to examine seniors’ lived experiences.
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Yvonne R. Teems, Hofstra University
Yvonne R. Teems, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Writing Studies and Composition at Hofstra University. Her work has appeared in Disability Studies Quarterly, among other publications.