Ageing, Identity and Gender in the Masters Sports Movement

An ageing population and an unfettered societal exultation regarding sport and its benefits have resulted in a new phenomenon, the Masters athlete. An increasing level of agency has cultivated the practices of middle age and extended the period before the often undesired old age. Successful ageing, a natural precursor to medical discourse, consumer culture and capitalist ways, is in vogue in our current times. Masters athletes are the pioneers of successful ageing, radicals opposed to social disengagement and frailty commonly associated with biological ageing. Much academic work has been done on the structural influences which generate such dispositions. However, more work is needed in understanding the effects of ageing on the identity of an athlete, how they fit into the aged social field and how they encounter societal marginalisation. To illuminate such theoretical queries, an interesting group of athletes will be utilised. Masters athletes involved in the Highland games movement will meet in Inverness this September for the World Highland Games gathering, an event steeped in masculine identity. How do older women experience these practices, being both deviant to the stereotypes of their age and their gender? Furthermore, research into physical activity and age has found strong links between increased levels of activity and prolonged longevity. How do the Highland games athletes experience mundane tasks and how has their participation in a highly strength-based event aided their successful ageing? This presentation aims to answer these questions and more