Remembering the past, looking to the future: Christmas as a symbol of change in later life widowhood

Abstract

Remembering the past, looking to the future : Christmas as a symbol of change in later life widowhood Remembering the past, looking to the future: Christmas as a symbol of change in later life widowhood TRACY COLLINS* ABSTRACTMany older women experience the loss of a spouse or partner in later life. This paper explores older women's experiences of Christmas in order to locate process and meaning in relation to the transition of later life widowhood. Drawing on longitudinal data, derived from three in-depth interviews conducted over  months with  older widows, this paper presents a number of themes from the women's accounts of their Christmas celebrations and their Christmas cards. The importance of continuity, social relations and autonomy is situated in three emergent themes: 'Family, intergenerational ties and tradition', 'Friendships, organisational ties and reciprocity' and 'Personal continuity and activation'. The significance of discontinuity, change and mediation is illustrated through three emergent themes: 'Christmas as a catalyst for change', 'We are all widows' and 'Negotiating change with others'. The findings, including the positive aspects of continuity and discontinuity, demonstrate that Christmas is a potent symbol of both personal and social transformation during later life widowhood, and that the management of transition incorporates not only social relations, but also personal agency and flexibility. This paper further challenges the predominantly negative stereotype of older widows and illustrates their resilience and growth in the later stages of life.

Aging and Resilience: Older Women’s Responses to Change and Adversity

“…The role of identity differences is increasingly recognized in contributing to the complexity of women's experiences of aging [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Researchers who have described how women experience aging differently than men contribute a rationale for examining older women's resilience and identify aspects of identity that shape older women's experiences with aging and adversity.…”

“…Utz, Caserta, and Lund [23] noted that widowhood is associated with declines in women's physical and mental health. However, other researchers have emphasized older women's positive adjustment and resilience in responding to the loss of a spouse [24,25]. As an example, in a qualitative study with British widows, Collins [25] portrayed older women's experience of losing a spouse as a transition that prompted changes in identity and attributed older women's resilience to contextual factors, such as social support and personal agency; engaging skills they learned earlier in their lives, such as self-sufficiency.…”

“…Intersectionality theory and critical feminist gerontology are suitable frameworks for examining older women's dynamic, intersecting identities [24,25]. Intersectionality theory and critical feminist gerontology have been proposed as complementary approaches to studying women's aging because both theoretical orientations focus on the intersection of diverse identities influences women's experiences with aging [24,25], Intersectionality theory, introduced by Crenshaw [26] as "a way of mediating the tension between assertions of multiple identity and the ongoing necessity of group politics" (p. 18), has its roots in theorizing women of colour [25,26].…”

“…Intersectionality theory and critical feminist gerontology have been proposed as complementary approaches to studying women's aging because both theoretical orientations focus on the intersection of diverse identities influences women's experiences with aging [24,25], Intersectionality theory, introduced by Crenshaw [26] as "a way of mediating the tension between assertions of multiple identity and the ongoing necessity of group politics" (p. 18), has its roots in theorizing women of colour [25,26]. Crenshaw [26] cultivated consciousness of the numerous intersections at which oppression can be located, thus encouraging an appreciation of the complexity of difference and its influence on identity and experience.…”

‘It pushed me back into the human race’: evaluative findings from a community Christmas event

“…), others suggest that having a range of different friendships may protect against loneliness (Stevens & van Tilburg , Shankar et al . ) and help to manage transitions such as later life widowhood (Collins ). In addition, having a robust social network is thought to act as a buffer to conditions such as dementia and to compensate for mild cognitive impairment (Fratiglioni et al .…”