DEPRESSION MASCULINITY AND LIVING ALONE IN A MILITARY RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

摘要

Everyday concepts of depression are often associated with feminine traits such as sadness and uncontrollable crying. Such gendered traits can consequently pose challenges to constructions of masculinity in older men. This paper draws upon interviews from a unique sample—eight older men who reside alone in a military-sponsored retirement community and explores how masculinity is performed and defended in light of age- and person-based threats such as depression. Findings point to the importance of the lifelong identity as a military serviceman as an important site through which to negotiate, process, or deny change with age.