Ethnographing the emotions of a group of elderly pilates practitioners in Buenos Aires (AR)

Abstract

The article aims to reflect on the body care of a group of elderly Argentines, using ethnography as a methodological instrument based on the observation of pilates classes at a gym in Buenos Aires (AR); as well as discussing expressivity / art in social research, in order to observe the use of the body in pilates and how the feelings and emotions of this group of elderly women occur. For these women, pilates provided body awareness, in addition, as they are a group that has been practicing pilates for more than 10 years, the group has opened up to other forms of sociability such as: community actions, parties, cafes, social events etc. The idea of ​​a group proved to be very significant among them, however, this search for sociability networks among elderly women, can also be a way for them to avoid loneliness, as their sons and daughters no longer live with them. As the body is an instrument of social analysis, it seeks to unveil the emotions of these groups, which, in contemporary times, present new narratives about aging, and this will depend not only on the scenario, on the resources used by the researcher, but on the affective and cognitive dimension that research with the use of expressiveness can add to this complexity called “bodies/emotions”.