Research to make older women's outdoor activities visible in the public space
In the spring of 2025, the last sub-study of the research project has gained momentum. It's about the phenomenon of Auntie parkour. The study aims to challenge and counteract ageism and gender stereotypes about older women and their participation in outdoor activities.
By highlighting the phenomenon of Auntie parkour, we investigate how older women take their place in, and use different types of natural environments. The study has a clear norm-critical perspective where we want to make older women's outdoor activities and presence in the public space visible.
Analyses are ongoing of collected material from conversations, interviews, observations, social media and news reports. The results will be presented later, but we can already start spreading the film that we have developed together with Vera Berggren Wiklund and Isak Lundberg to exemplify how Auntie parkour can be done. This is what researcher Kristin Godtman Kling says about why we have chosen to study Auntie parkour.
"It's important to investigate women's parkour because it challenges both our notions of what older bodies can and are allowed to do, and how public spaces are used. By making older women's movement practices visible in nature and urban environments, we want to contribute to broadening the picture of active ageing and increase the understanding of how norms around age and gender affect opportunities for participation. We also investigate how Auntie parkour is visible in social media, and how this helps to make the phenomenon visible and inspire more people to participate or think differently about aging and movement.