Queering Longevity: (Non)ageing Nonhumans and the Repro-hetero-youthful Future

Abstract

This paper focuses on the analysis of contemporary longevity research as a quest for "the key" to the extension of the human lifespan in nature. It questions the ways in which the cultural images and the material bodies of the (non)ageing animals have so far been used to shape the imaginary future of a humankind that has "defeated" ageing. Two cases of such a treatment are examined: the negligibly senescent lobster, and the genetically altered mouse. This paper seeks to engage critical gerontology and queer ecological thinking in order to analyze the discourse on longevity research as a site of human-nonhuman entanglement in which heterosexism, ageism, and speciesism intersect. The theoretical discussions of heteronormative temporality, chrononormativity, and reproductive futurism further inform the critical understanding of the normative representation of the life course supported through the current futurist imagining of longevity. In conclusion, the article calls for a discussion of the ways in which the experimental thinking with the nonhuman creatures could encourage a more inclusive understanding of ageing in a future which challenges ageism, anthropocentrism, and (hetero)normativity.