Velhice e envelhecimento: questões e aspectos contemporâneos

Abstract

The present study intents to discuss aging and old age by critically investigating its images and social representations. It takes into account the social bond, its ways of effectiveness and failure before the offerings available in society, as well as its implications in giving meaning to the life experience. In addition, it contrasts legislated social rights versus their real effectiveness. It intends, therefore, to establish a discussion about questions of being old and old aging, their meanings and trends, taking into consideration the demographic transformations of Brazil. In the development of this study, a brief history was elaborated about the images associated with old age in several historical periods, presenting as a point of inflection the radical changes of the productive process from modernity, which allowed today’s longevity and, consequently, the consolidation of an increasingly significant elderly population. The study shows that despite old age being an increasingly substantial portion of the population, aging has been disregarded for its complexity and psychosocial factors, remaining outside of political agenda, mainly from the second half of the twentieth century on. The economic constraint is the prevailing view for public policies, just as naturalized etarism is characteristic of the private sector, despite “inclusive” media strategies. In the development of this study, it was established the dialogue between literature, media, the older person’s law, and freudian psychoanalytic theory. This study is based on a qualitative methodological approach in bibliographic research to raise images and identity traits that relate to aging, old age, and culture, positively or negatively, making criticisms that allow reflections on the present and future trends.