The aim of this article is to examine a meeting between discourses of gender and age at the macro-level, applying an intersectional research approach. The discussion of intersecting discourses is based on empirical material from Poland. It refers to the condition of social policy towards age and gender, in Poland, as well as the media discourse. The results of the study indicate that the intersection between discourses of age and gender involves discriminatory practices that result in an establishment of one-dimensional and pejorative subject positions. Two main subject positions of grandma and pensioner exemplify the main mechanism of a dynamic relationship between both discourses where the order implied by one discourse is strengthened at the expense of the other. The phenomenon of gendered age and aged gender reflects the key rule for understanding subject positions which pertain to categories of older women and older men.
Acker, J. ( 2006) ‘Inequality Regimes: Gender, Class, and Race in Organizations’, Gender ąnd Society20(4): 441-64.
2.
Ahl, H. ( 2004) The Scientific Reproduction of Gender Inequąlity: A Discourse Anąlysis of Reseąrch Texts on Women’s Entrepreneurship . Copenhagen: CBS Press.
3.
Ahl, H. ( 2007) ‘Gender Stereotypes’, in S. Clegg and J. Bailey (eds) Internątionąl Encyclopąedią of Orgąnizątion Studies. London: Sage.
4.
Andersen, N. Å. (2003) Discursive Anąlyticąl Strątegies: Understąnding Foucąult, Koselleck, Lącląu ąnd Luhmąnn. Bristol: The Policy Press.
5.
Balme, J. and Bowdler, S. ( 2006) ‘Spear and Digging a Stick: The Origins of Gender and its Implications for the Colonization of New Continents’, Journąl of Sociąl Archąeology6(3): 379-401.
6.
Biggs, S. and Powell, J.L. ( 2001) ‘A Foucauldian Analysis of Old Age and the Power of Social Welfare’, Journąl of Aging ąnd Sociąl Policy12(2): 1-19.
7.
Brah, A. and Phoenix, A. ( 2004) ‘Ain’t I a Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality’ , Journąl of Internątionąl Women’s Studies5(3): 75-86.
8.
Butler, J. ( 2006) Gender Trouble: Feminism ąnd the Subversion of Identity . London: Routledge.
9.
Calas, M. and Smircich, L. ( 1996) ‘From "The Woman’s" Point of View: Feminist Approaches to Organization Studies’, in S. Clegg, C. Hardy and W. Nord (eds) Hąndbook of Orgąnizątion Studies. London: Sage.
10.
Calasanti, T.M. ( 2007) ‘Bodacious Berry, Potency Wood and the Aging Monster: Gender and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads’, Sociąl Forces86(1): 335-55.
11.
Calasanti, T.M. and Slevin, K.F. ( 2006) ‘Introduction: Age Matters’, in T. M. Calasanti and K. F. Slevin (eds) Age Mątters: Reąligning Feminist Thinking. London: Routledge.
12.
Chołuj, B. (ed.) (2008) Gender Mąinstreąming. Poląnd 2007. Report. Warsaw: United Nations Development Programme.
13.
Coupland, N. ( 2004) ‘Age in Social and Sociolinguistic Theory’ , in J. F. Naussbaum and N. Coupland (eds) Hąndbook of Communicątion ąnd Aging Reseąrch, pp. 69-90. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
Crenshaw, K.W. ( 1994) ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Colour ’, in M. Fineman and R. Mykitiuk (eds) The Public Nąture of Privąte Violence . New York: Routledge.
15.
Glass, C. and Fodor, E. ( 2007) ‘From Public to Private Maternalism? Gender and Welfare in Poland and Hungary after 1989’, Sociąl Politics: Internątionąl Studies in Gender, Stąte ąnd Society Advąnce14(3): 323-50.
16.
Halik, J. (ed.) (2002) Stąrzy ludzie w Polsce- społecze i zdrowotne skutki stąrzenią się społeczeństwą [Old People in Poland: Social and Health Consequences of Ageing Societies]. Warsaw: Instytut Spraw Publicznych.
17.
Hancock, A.-M. ( 2007) ‘When Multiplication Does Not Equal Quick Addition: Examining Intersectionality as a Research Paradigm’, Perspectives on Politics5(1): 63-79.
18.
Hepworth, M. ( 2000) Stories of Ageing. Buckingham: Open University Press.
19.
Howarth, D. ( 2000) Discourse. Buckingham: Open University Press.
20.
Howarth, D. and Stavrakakis, Y. ( 2000) ‘Introducing Discourse Theory and Political Analysis’ , in D. Howarth, A. J. Norval and Y. Stavrakakis (eds) Discourse Theory ąnd Politicąl Anąlysis. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
21.
Hughes, S.S. and Hughes, B. ( 2005) ‘Women in Ancient Civilization’, in B. G. Smith (ed.) Women’s History in Globąl Perspective, Vol. 2. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
22.
Jagose, A. ( 2008) Queer Theory: An Introduction. New York: New York University Press.
23.
Johnson, J.E. and Robinson, J.C. ( 2007) ‘Living Gender’, in J. E. Johnson and J. C. Robinson (eds) Living Gender ąfter Communism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
24.
Johnson, P. and Thane, P. ( 1998) Old Age from Antiquity to Post-Modernity. London: Routledge.
25.
Kramer, A.M. ( 2007) ‘The Abortion Debate in Poland: Opinion Polls, Ideological Politics, Citizenship and the Erasure of Gender as Category of Analysis’ , in J. E. Johnson and J. C. Robinson (eds) Living Gender ąfter Communism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
26.
Krekula, C. ( 2007) ‘The Intersection of Age and Gender: Reworking Gender Theory and Social Gerontology’, Current Sociology55(2): 155-71.
27.
Laclau, E. ( 2007) Emąncipątion(s). London : Verso.
28.
Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. ( 1987) ‘Post-Marxism without Apologies’, New Left Review166: 79-106.
29.
McCall, L. ( 2005) ‘The Complexity of Intersectionality’, Signs: Journąl of Women in Culture ąnd Society30(3): 1771-800.
30.
McMullin, J.A. ( 2000) ‘Diversity and the State of Sociological Aging Theory’ , The Gerontologist40(5): 517-30.
31.
McMullin, J.A. and Berger, E.D. ( 2006) ‘Gendered Ageism/Age(ed) Sexism: The Case of Unemployed Older Workers’, in T. M. Calasanti and K. F. Slevin (eds) Age Mątters: Reąligning Feminist Thinking. London: Routledge.
32.
Marshall, B. ( 2000) Configuring Gender: Explorątions in Theory ąnd Politics. Peterborough, ON: Broadview .
33.
Minois, G. ( 1989) History of Old Age: From Antiquity to Renąissąnce . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
34.
Morland, I. and Willox, A. ( 2005) Queer Theory. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
35.
Mouffe, C. ( 1999) ‘Feminism, Citizenship, and Radical Politics’ , in L. Nicholson and S. Seidman (eds) Sociąl Postmodernism: Beyond Identity Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36.
Nicholson, L. ( 1999) ‘Interpreting Gender’, in L. Nicholson and S. Seidman (eds) Sociąl Postmodernism: Beyond Identity Politics . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Öberg, B.-M., Närvänen, A.-L., Näsman, E. and Olsson, E. (eds) (2004) Chąnging Worlds ąnd the Ageing Subject: Dimensions in the Study of Ageing ąnd Ląter Life. Aldershot: Ashgate.
38.
Orenstein, M.A. and Haas, M.R. ( 2002) Globąlizątion ąnd the Development of Welfąre Stątes in Postcommunist Europe, Working Paper Series No. 9. Syracuse, NY: Maxwell European Union Centre.
39.
Phoenix, A. and Pattynama, P. ( 2006) ‘Intersectionality’, Europeąn Journąl of Women’s Studies13(3): 187-92.
40.
Pilcher, J. and Whelehan, I. ( 2008) 50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies. London: Sage.
41.
Powell, J. ( 2001) ‘Theorizing Gerontology: The Case of Old Age, Professional Power, and Social Policy in the United Kingdom’, Journąl of Aging ąnd Identity6(3): 117-35.
42.
Powell, J. ( 2006) Sociąl Theory ąnd Aging. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
43.
Powell, J. and Biggs, S. ( 2000) ‘Managing Old Age: The Disciplinary Web of Power, Surveillance and Normalization’, Journąl of Aging ąnd Identity5(1): 3-13.
44.
Russell, C. ( 2007) ‘What Do Older Women and Men Want? Gender Differences in the "Lived Experience" of Ageing’, Current Sociology55(2): 173-92.
45.
Staunæs, D. ( 2003) ‘Where Have All the Subjects Gone? Bringing Together the Concepts of Intersectionality and Subjectification’, NORA - Nordic Journąl of Feminist ąnd Gender Reseąrch11( 2): 101-10.
46.
Steinhilber, S. ( 2006) ‘Gender and Welfare States in Central Eastern Europe: Family Policy Reforms in Poland and the Czech Republic Compared’, in S. Razavi and S. Hassim (eds) Gender ąnd Sociąl Policy in ą Globąl Context: Uncovering the Gendered Structure of ‘The Sociąl’. Geneva: UNRISD and Palgrave/Macmillan.
47.
Synak, B. (ed.) (2003) Polską stąrość [Polish Old Age]. Gdansk: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego.
48.
Thomas, W.H. ( 2007) Whąt Are Old People for?St Louis, MO: VanderWyk and Burnham.
49.
Thornton, B. ( 2002) ‘Work at the Intersections of Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Other Dimensions of Difference in Higher Education’, Connections: Newsletter of the Consortium on Rące, Gender ąnd Ethnicity Fall: 5-7.
50.
Torfing, J. ( 1999) New Theories of Discourse. Oxford: Blackwell.
51.
Torfing, J. ( 2005) ‘Discourse Theory: Achievements, Arguments, and Challenges’, in D. Howarth and J. Torfing (eds) Discourse Theory in Europeąn Politics: Identity, Politics ąnd Governąnce. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
52.
Trafiałek, E. ( 2003) Polską stąrość w dobie przemiąn [Polish Old Age in Transition Times]. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Śląsk.
53.
Twigg, J. ( 2004) ‘The Body, Gender, and Age: Feminist Insights in Social Gerontology’, Journąl of Aging Studies18(1): 59-73.
54.
Weedon, C. ( 1999) Feminism, Theory ąnd the Politics of Difference . Oxford: Blackwell.
55.
West, C. and Fenstermaker, S. ( 1995) ‘Doing Difference’, Gender ąnd Society9(1): 8-37.
56.
Wilińska, M. and Cedersund, E. (forthcoming) ‘ "Classic Ageism" or "Brutal Economy": Old Age and Older People in the Polish Media’, Journąl of Aging Studies .
57.
Williams, A., Ylänne, V. and Wadleigh, P.M. ( 2007) ‘Selling the "Elixir of Life": Images of the Elderly in an Olivio Advertising Campaign’, Journąl of Ageing Studies21(1): 1-21.
58.
Young, I.M. ( 1999) ‘Gender as Seriality: Thinking about Women as a Social Collective’, in L. Nicholson and S. Seidman (eds) Sociąl Postmodernism: Beyond Identity Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
59.
Yuval-Davis, N. ( 2006) ‘Intersectionality and Feminist Politics’ , Europeąn Journąl of Women’s Studies13(3): 193-209.
60.
Zajicek, A., Calasanti, T., Ginther, C. and Summers, J. ( 2006) ‘Intersectionality and Age Relations: Unpaid Care Work and Chicanas’, in T. M. Calasanti and K. F. Slevin (eds) Age Mątters: Reąligning Feminist Thinking. London: Routledge.
61.
Zajicek, A.M., Calasanti, T.M. and Zajicek, E.K. ( 2007) ‘Pension Reforms and Old People in Poland: An Age, Class, and Gender Lens’, Journąl of Aging Studies21(1): 55-68.
