In Search of Hidden Sexuality. Old Age and Sexuality in the Light of Humorous Narration Cover Image

In Search of Hidden Sexuality. Old Age and Sexuality in the Light of Humorous Narration
In Search of Hidden Sexuality. Old Age and Sexuality in the Light of Humorous Narration

Author(s): Sinikka Vakimo
Subject(s): Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Hrvatsko etnološko društvo
Keywords: cultural conceptions; age and sexuality; body; humour; folklore

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the perceptions of the elderly from the agrarian culture of early-to-mid-20th-century Finland. It focusses especially on how the sexuality and corporeality of old women are defined in humorous oral narration. The research materials include archival anecdotes about old age and sexuality. The research draws upon theoretical discussions presented in feminist cultural gerontology and folklore studies. The figure of the old woman emerges here as a strikingly complex sexual agent, a figure whose body and sexuality are visible in anecdotes and not hidden.

  • Issue Year: 45/2015
  • Issue No: 38
  • Page Range: 108-121
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English
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