Paper short abstract:

Older men's sexuality is medicalised as a symptom and dismissed as deviant within institutional care. Using Kristeva's concept of abjection, I show how some male residents tactically leverage stereotypes about elderly sexuality to maintain agency within highly regulated spaces.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on 6 months of ethnographic fieldwork in a residential care facility, this paper examines how male residents navigate sexuality and masculinity within spaces of institutional care. Through the theoretical framework of Kristeva's abjection and contemporary approaches to alienation, I analyse how elderly men's expressions of sexuality become simultaneously medicalised and delegitimised, creating a form of "abject sexuality" that exists in a liminal space between acceptance and rejection. The paper focuses on two key empirical cases: First, the complex dynamics between a male resident's flirtatious behaviours with young care staff, revealing how such interactions are alternatively framed as harmless personality traits or potential threats requiring management. Second, the emergence of romantic/sexual interest between residents with varying degrees of cognitive capacity, highlights how staff navigate consent and autonomy while maintaining safety. I argue that male residents experience a unique form of alienation wherein their sexuality is simultaneously acknowledged and denied, treated as both natural and deviant. This creates a form of "tactical abjection" where some residents leverage stereotypes about elderly sexuality to assert agency within the constrained space of care. The paper contributes to discussions of alienation by examining how institutional spaces produce new forms of estrangement from one's sexual and gendered identity, while also considering how subjects might reclaim agency through strategic deployment of their "abject" status.