Since the 1990s, several studies involving French centenarians have shown a gender paradox in old age. Even if women are more numerous in old age and live longer than men, men are in better physical and cognitive health, are higher functioning, and have superior vision. If better health should lead to a longer life, why are men not living longer than women? This paper proposes a hypothesis based on the differences in the generational habitus between men and women who were born at the beginning of the 20th century. The concept of generational habitus combines the generation theory of Mannheim with the habitus concept of Bourdieu based on the observation that there exists a way of being, thinking, and doing for each generation. We hypothesized that this habitus still influences many gender-linked behaviours in old age. Men, as “oaks,” seem able to delay the afflictions of old age until a breaking point, while women, as “reeds,” seem able to survive despite an accumulation of health deficits. “The winds that trees and mountains tear alarm not me—unbroken still I bend .” (Jean de la Fontaine, Fables 1, 22) 1. Introduction The title of this paper builds on the famous fable of Jean de la Fontaine (1621–1695) The Oak and the Reed in which he compares the two plants facing the natural elements (Table 2). The moral of the fable is that the oak remains immovable while the reed bends into the wind, but when the wind becomes stronger, the oak is uprooted while the flexible reed survives. This metaphor illustrates the hypothesis we develop to explain part of the gender paradox noted by Allard and Robine [1] as a result of a large national survey on centenarians: “…women are more prevalent in old age but in poorer overall health. It leads to an impossible challenge: if you want to become a centenarian, be a woman, you’re more likely to achieve the breakthrough but once you get there, be a man, as you will be in better shape.” Comparing the responses of the reeds to the wind with the adaptation of elderly to the inherent frailty process that progresses with age, we defend the hypothesis that men, as oaks, have the capacity to cope with the challenges of old age until a breaking point, whereupon they die, while women, as reeds, are more flexible and can adapt and survive. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Data from Previous Epidemiological Studies on French Oldest Old In order to illustrate our hypothesis, we put into perspective various observations related to the French oldest old population coming from three different studies: In the Search of the Secret of Centenarians
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