Welcome to Middle Age (and Other Cultural Fictions)

The symptoms of middle age are often defined in terms of lower back pain, mortgages, and an aversion to loud late-night activities. This construction of "midlife", most often rendered in chronological, biological and medical terms, has become an accepted reality to European Americans, and has spread to non-Western capitals such as Tokyo and New Delhi. This study explores the significance of this pervasive cultural representation compared to other cultures where "middle age" does not exist. It examines topics ranging from the Western ideology of "midlife decline", to cultural representations of mature adulthood which ignore middle age. It also looks at the myths surrounding the life span from 30 to 70.