Women at Midlife and Beyond

1
Women at Midlife and Beyond

• The Good, the Bad, and the.
• (older?)

2
How Do Women Experience Growing Older?

• A Great range of experiences exists among women.
• Important variables include
• Cultures attitudes towards aging
• Age Cohort
• Social class/financial resources
• Health status
• Social network
• Life path
• In line with dominant cultural values for women?

3
The Social Construction of Aging

• Chronological age a marker used to categorize
  people and set expectations
• How would you define middle age? Old age?
• What does growing older mean to you, as a woman
  or man?
• Growing older in North America
• Individualistic materialistic, productivity
  oriented culture works better for the young
  strong (Crawford 397)
• Do the aging have meaningful roles tasks?

4
Ageism

• Prejudice discrimination based on age
• Negative stereotypes attitudes
• Language
• Negative labels
• Elderspeak
• Cultural practices that marginalize
• Age segregation
• Invisibility
• Age discrimination in the workplace

5
Is There a Double Standard of Aging?

• Is being older judged more harshly for women than
  for men? Are women devalued more as they age?
• How are signs of aging judged in women versus
  men?
• Womens value has been linked to reproduction,
  achievement of youthful beauty standard
• mens status is derived from achievement, wealth
• In the Swedish study, women were more concerned
  about appearance of the body men about the
  functionality of the body

6
Psychological Challenges of Aging

• Aging brings significant challenges that require
  a process psychological adjustment (over a period
  of years).
• Aging means changes in how youre regarded by
  others
• Your social identity shifts - Shes an older
  woman
• Your self-identity is challenged by negative
  stereotypes
• Self-labeling Am I old?
• Self esteem is affected
• We may need to re-define how we value ourselves
• Choices (and behavior) are affected by cultural
  judgments expectations
• Dating, romance, sexuality
• These are held and transmitted by employers,
  family members

7
The Personal Impact of Aging

• Aging means changes to your body
• The Appearance Wars
• Loss adjustment--ongoing
• Aches pains
• Menopause
• Sexuality
• Difficult life events
• Serious illness in self or others
• Death of loved ones (Shrinking world)

8
Opportunities Rewards of Aging

• Career achievement satisfaction
• Second career
• Feeling of making a contribution
• Participation in the growth of others
• Family/marriage
• Satisfactions of raising a family
• Grandmother role
• Time with spouse
• Retirement
• Personal growth new perspective
• Freedom from the pressures on younger women
• Being a survivor of life

9
The Caregiving Role

• A common feature in womens lives
• As family members age, the caregiving role falls
  overwhelmingly to females (mother, sister, wife).
• 17 of those over 65 have disability
• Women in the middle
• Caring for aging parents and ones own children
  simultaneously
• Demands of the caregiving role
• Satisfying?
• Overwhelmingly stressful
• Support for the caregiver is essential

10
Becoming a Grandmother

• A positive role/achievement for the older woman.
• Part of a certain life trajectory
• Two grandmother roles
• Enjoy your dividends
• Become mother to your grandchildren
• The of grandmother-headed households has
  increased by 53 since 1990.

11
Older Women of ColorDouble Invisibility

• Black and Latina elderly women are much more
  likely to live in poverty than Caucasian elderly
  women.
• These women face a daily struggle in paying for
  housing, health care, transportation, food.
• Advantages for older women of color
• More likely than Caucasian American women to have
  an extended family living nearby.
• More likely to be active in church and other
  community organizations.
• Often closely involved in the lives of their
  grandchildren

12
Elderly Black Women 2 Opposing Stereotypes

• Portrayed as victims of poverty and urban decay
• Superhuman individuals who surmount obstacles
  through hard work and a good heart.
• Neither portrayal captures the complexity of
  their actual lives (Matlin, 2008).