Women ageing : changing identities, challenging myths

225 Pages·2000·1.837 MB·English

by  Miriam Bernard, et al

Women Ageing
Women Ageing provides a better understanding of what ageing is like for
women and challenges the myths which have grown up around the
ageing process. Blending the scholarly, the personal and the political, it
reveals the range of strategies and identities women adopt to manage the
transitions of the second half of the lifecourse. In doing so it uncovers not
only the commonalities and similarities between midlife and older
women, but also some of the variation and diversity relating to ethnicity
and race, class, disability and sexual orientation.
Women Ageing makes the ordinary lives of ordinary women as, in this
instance, they grow older more visible. Its findings have important
implications for policy and practice. All those studying or working with
older people will find it an illuminating text.
Miriam Bernard is Head of School and Professor of Social Gerontology,
Judith Phillips is Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Gerontology, Linda
Machin is part-time Lecturer in Counselling and Applied Social Studies
and Val Harding Davies is Lecturer in Counselling, all at School of Social
Relations, Keele University.
Women Ageing
Changing identities, challenging
myths
Edited by
Miriam Bernard,
Judith Phillips,
Linda Machin and
Val Harding Davies

London and New York
First published 2000
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2000 Miriam Bernard, Judith Phillips, Linda Machin and Val Harding
Davies
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Women ageing: changing identities, challenging myths/edited by
Miriam Bernard…[et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-18943-8 (hbk) ISBN 1-415-18944-6 (pbk)
1. Aged women. 2. Middle aged women. 3. Aging—Social aspects. I.
Bernard, Miriam
HQ1061.W636 2000 00–055360
305.244–dc21.
ISBN 0-203-97739-4 Master e-book ISBN
For Sue
In appreciation of the support and friendship you
have given each and every one of us over the years
Contents
List of illustrations ix
List of contributors x
Acknowledgements xiii
Foreword xiv
1 Women ageing: changing identities, challenging myths 1
MIRIAM BERNARD, PAT CHAMBERS AND GILLIAN
GRANVILLE
Introduction 1
Rethinking theory 2
Perspectives from critical gerontology 4
Feminist perspectives 8
The development of feminism 9
Biographical and life-course perspectives 12
The impact of these perspectives on our own work 16
About this book 17
Conclusion 21

2 ‘Women’s work’ and the transition to retirement 23
JULIE SKUCHA AND MIRIAM BERNARD
Introduction 23
The study 24
‘Women’s work’ 27
Women don’t retire… 30
Preparing for later life 34
Conclusion: reflections on theory and practice 37
vi
3 Working carers: caring workers 39
JUDITH PHILLIPS
Introduction 39
The demographics of care and employment 40
Identity of working carers 41
Myths and misconceptions 43
The experience of paid and unpaid caring 51
Discussion: developing a life-course perspective 55
4 Our ageing selves: reflections on growing older 57
MIRIAM BERNARD AND VAL HARDING DAVIES
Introduction 57
Exploring the existing literature 58
Reflections on growing older 64
Looking forward 69
Our ageing selves 70
5 Menopause: a time of private change to a mature identity 73
GILLIAN GRANVILLE
Introduction 73
Current discourses on menopause 74
Seeking to understand women’s experiences 79
Menopause as a time of change 81
Recognising the changing private self 85
Hiding from the public gaze 87

Conclusion 91
6 Older women undergraduates: choices and challenges 93
PATSY MARSHALL
Introduction 93
The study 95
The findings 96
Conclusion: combating the myths 107
7 Women’s voices in bereavement 110
LINDA MACHIN
vii
Introduction 110
Women’s voices in the theory of grief 110
The experience of grief 115
Mid-life and older women’s responses to loss 119
Women’s coping styles 122
Discussion 124
Conclusion 125
8 Widowhood in later life 127
PAT CHAMBERS
Introduction 127
Reviewing the literature 128
Theoretical perspectives 130
An alternative approach 133
The diverse experience of later life widowhood 135
Challenging the stereotype 146
Conclusion 146
9 Older women, long-term marriage and care 148
MO RAY
Introduction 148
Myself and my research 149
Examining the literature 150
The study 155

Concluding discussion 165
1 0 Women ageing: changing policy, challenging practice 168
JUDITH PHILLIPS AND MIRIAM BERNARD
Introduction 168
Changing policy, challenging practice 169
Women researching: reflections on method 173
Women writing: reflections on the collaborative process 174
viii
Women ageing: reflections on our own ageing 175
Conclusion: where to now? 177
Bibliography 179
Index 198
Illustrations
Figures
2.1 Age distribution 25
2.2 Marital status 26
2.3 Occupational fields 26
6.1 Dominant coping strategies continuum 103
Tables
7.1 The ‘range of response to loss’ framework 117
7.2 The ‘adult attitudes to grief’ scale 119