ABSTRACT
Taking care of old and dying people seems to be a very complex and difficult matter in modern individualistic cultures. Ethnographic studies carried out in Sweden report that people tend to perceive older human bodies as open, unlimited and unattractive. To illustrate the social and emotional complexity in intimate intergenerational cross-sex care, this chapter discusses one particular person's story as a case study. Care work has other people's bodies as its working field. The social status, pay, and prestige linked to care work are the result of both structural conditions and the social status of the receivers. The dirty parts of care work are mainly women's work, and the feelings of disgust this tends to evoke are linked to our society's understanding of femininity and masculinity–as defined in different social groups and classes. That is why sociology of embodied disgust is a gender issue.
