The economic, demographic and social changes of the latter half of the C20th
have influenced the experience of individuals now at 'midlife'. Arguably the
impact of these changes has been more profound for women; specifically in the
UK for those educated to be the wives, mothers and carers of industrial Britain
(Newsom, 1963). Now around 50 years old this group of women are likely to
experience a lengthy period of 'postmaternity' (Sheriff and Weatherall, 2009)
extending to over thirty years in many cases. This research considers the
experience of this metaphorically entitled 'telescopic' cohort (Goldstein and
Schlag, 1999). The major corpus of age related research assumes a linear
developmental progression of life stages (Erikson, 1951, 1968; Gould, 1978;
Levinson, 1978; Levinson, 1996; Klohnen et al., 1996; Miner-Rubinio, 2004).
Drawing on life course theory (Elder, 1995; Runyan, 1982; Super, 1980)
enables this research to explore how women may have changed assumptions
about themselves and their expectations as the social world has changed
around them, moreover offers an alternative to the essentialist, linear,
deterministic models of ageing. This feminist poststructuralist examination of the
experience of women at 'midlife' is divided into two parts; firstly the 'lived life'
which examines demographic changes, and drawing on material from 'Jackie'
magazine, considers discourses of femininity and the expectations for, and of,
girls. The 'told story' is then explored using narrative interview material. How
women 'story' their lives and their understanding of 'self' at midlife is examined
within the context of the changing world and their ageing bodies. The research
revealed that the experience of 'midlife' for this cohort of women is narrated as
a time of change in social circumstances with some 'gains' and some 'losses',
however it is not storied as a time of inevitable 'crisis'. Moreover despite the
plethora of literature portraying the menopause as problematic, this was not
supported by the interview material.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/4898 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Anderson, Fiona E. |
| Contributors | Horrocks, Christine, Walker, Tammi, Lavis, Victoria J. |
| Publisher | University of Bradford |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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