Centre for Policy on Ageing



Singlehood — transitions within a gendered world
Author(s)	Lorraine Davies
Journal title	Canadian Journal on Aging, vol 22, no 4, Winter 2003
Pages	pp 343-352
Source	www.utpjournals.com
Keywords	Single persons ; Childless ; Adjustment ; Qualitative Studies ; Canada.
Annotation	The life histories of 30 never-married, childless women and men aged 38-57 are used to explore the more subtle ways in which age norms affect the subjective experience of singlehood (being single). Specifically, this study examines whether or not it is appropriate to speak of transition in the experience of singlehood, and this is something the data used reveals clearly. The transition is represented by a change to self-attributed status that occurs over time, and is associated with a cultural timetable to marriage. It marks the experience of "becoming single" that occurs when an individual identifies more with singlehood than with marriage. Moreover, the author explores the ways in which singlehood is a gendered experience. The results from this study affirm the applicability of life course theory to the lives of single people and serve to broaden the definition of the concept "transition" to include those not obviously marked by normative events. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-040219201 A
Classmark	SQ: SU: DR: 3DP: 7S
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.