About ageing in the work of Simone de Beauvoir

Abstract

Considerations of old age and ageing are not the central part of the work of Simone de Beauvoir. However, fragmentary mentions of these topics in her memoirs, and especially her two-volume book The Coming of Age, make Simone de Beauvoir an author whose approach to the topics makes an important contribution to multidisciplinary research and understanding of old age and ageing. A strong voice of protest she raised back in 1970 against mal-treatment of elderly by the society, can be an impetus for activism in the area of the protection of human rights even today. Namely, her work on ageing is a kind of a manifesto and a call for total participation of elderly in the society. Primary intention of this paper is to point out to those Simone de Beauvoir's considerations on the topics that could be relevant for the social policy field, as well as to her arguments underlying the considerations. Having in mind her explanations of the vulnerable position of elderly in general, the paper has two-fold focus. On the one hand, basic assumptions of her approach to ageing in general are taken into account, along with the meanings the society attributes to ageing. On the other hand, certain challenges are taken into account, such as transition from childhood into adulthood and old age, revelation of one's own old age, sex as an old age determinant and changes in the world of work of importance for the changed position of elderly.

U razmatranjima Simone de Bovoar, starost i starenje nemaju centralno mesto. Međutim, fragmentarni stavovi o ovim temama u njenim memoarskim knjigama, a neuporedivo više dvotomno delo Starost, svrstavaju je u autore čiji pristupi predstavljaju važan doprinos multidisciplinarnom proučavanju i promišljanju u ovoj oblasti. Snažan glas negodovanja koji je ona još 1970. godine podigla protiv lošeg tretmana starijih od strane društava, mogao bi imati potencijal za aktivizam u sferi zaštite ljudskih prava starijih i danas. Na taj način, njeni napisi o starosti predstavljaju svojevrstan pamflet i poziv za punu participaciju starijih u društvu. Osnovna namera u ovom radu je da se ukaže na razmatranja Simone de Bovoar koja se nalaze u sferi interesovanja socijalne politike i na argumentaciju koja se nalazi u osnovi tih razmatranja. S obzirom na važnost njenih objašnjenja vulnerabilnog položaja starijih uopšteno, rad ima dvostruki fokus. S jedne strane, razmatraju se najvažniji fragmenti pristupa starosti de Bovoar uopšteno, odnosno značenja koja se pridaju starenju u društvu. S druge strane, razmatraju se teme tranzicije iz detinjstva u zrelost i starost, otkrivanja sopstvene starosti, pola kao determinante starenja, te promena u sferi rada koje su uticale na promenu položaja starijih.