Gender throughout the life cycle

Gender is not simply an independent variable. It is the social construction of women and men, and the power relations between them. This research axis looks at the biographical construction of gender, that is, how representations, behaviors, attitudes, and asymmetries between women and men are constructed throughout the life course. Gender is a structuring component of primary socialization, rooted in structural inequalities between the sexes. But it is also continuously reproduced through interactions and everyday experiences. Far from being permanent, gender relations are indeed defined and renegotiated in real-life situations and especially at key moments and events in life. The project looks at how this secondary socialization challenges and sometimes changes dispositions acquired in primary socialization. We are also interested in women’s and men’s “subjective age”, meaning their different attitudes towards age and ageing. These gender differences regarding the experiences of youth, middle age and old age are powerful indicators of the persistence and the internalisation of gender inequalities.