Envelhecimento e gênero: análise discursiva das representações de mulheres velhas em textos jornalísticos no contexto da guerra da Ucrânia

Abstract

Ageism manifests itself institutionally, interpersonally, and self-directedly, and intertwines with other social markers (racism, sexism, etc.), which deepen the experiences of inequality and violence experienced by older people (Mazuchelli & Oliveira, 2023). It therefore demands an intersectional theoretical-analytical movement capable of questioning unidimensional views of power relations (Collins & Bilge, 2021). In the context of armed conflict, this issue becomes even more latent, considering that the sovereignty of a State, in dispute in this space-time, physically, biologically, and discursively divides who should live or die (Mbembe, 2018). At the intersection of these spheres, this work investigates the discursive representations of older women in the context of the war in Ukraine. To this end, a corpus of ten news reports addressing the experiences of elderly women in this conflict, published between 2022 and 2025, is analyzed based on the theoretical and methodological foundations of Bakhtin's dialogical perspective on discourse and his Circle. On the one hand, the analysis indicates the frequent abandonment of these women, the prejudices that limit their access to humanitarian aid, their loneliness, the condescending manner in which they are represented in journalistic texts, and the way their realities are destroyed by equating ageing with the end of life. On the other hand, it notes the agency of elderly women in the formation and maintenance of communities and in the formalization of complaints against war crimes. It is concluded that paying attention to these women’s voices, particularly through their testimonies, expands their possibilities of life and meaning and opens paths to understanding and confronting this complex form of oppression.