RACISM AND STRESS-PRODUCING EVENTS: BLACK ELDERLY EXPERIENCES
Elderly; racism; stressful events.
Old age is a heterogeneous and complex experience and the context of person's development and social opportunities are indispensable elements for reflection of the way stress presents itself in daily life, including as a structuring element of personal and collective experience. Social and racial inequalities influence greater exposure to stressful events, especially in the black and old population, whose life trajectory is marked by discriminatory situations originating in structural racism. The present study aimed to analyze the events considered stress producers by black elderly women. The participants were 11 self-declared elderly women, chosen by means of a non-probabilistic sample for accessibility, of which 9 were women and 2 men; ages ranged from 60 to 83 years. The narrative interview was used as a data collection method, and the analysis of the interviews was performed using the method proposed by Schutze, in order to capture the singular and collective trajectories. The results showed that the events experienced throughout their lives (before old age), involved the marital relationship especially of women, illness, work, death and mourning, material restrictions, family, change of home and racial discrimination. In old age, they permeated the themes of health and autonomy, descent, affectivity and social support, discrimination and racism and material conditions. It was observed that the experiences that occurred throughout life presented unexpected events, marked by the social context of development of the black and female population. The events of old age covered situations found in other studies with the elderly population in general and events that have continued in force since youth, such as illness, conflicting marital relationship, financial needs and situations of Discrimination. The results show the interrelationship of these events with racism. Black and old women, above all, experienced the performance of racism interspersed with patriarchal logic since the beginning of their lives.