Aging and widowhood signal a real and symbolic landmark
of change toward new vital experiences of elderly people. In the aging experience
of women, there are three social age markers that participate directly in the
construction of their identity as women during old age: menopause, work and
widowhood. The present paper reports the results of a research on widowhood
in old age and the experience of aging in elderly women in Chile. Through a
qualitative methodological strategy, in depth biographic interviews were held
with elderly people who were widowed after reaching 60 years of age, centering
the analysis on its meanings on the body, health and death in old age, highlighting
sociocultural aspects of the aging and widowing processes. Approaching
widowhood in old age shows us not only a person who has lost a husband, but
also what it means to be an elderly woman in a life experience continuum that
also brings about key changes to understand the aging process of people,
because marital relations can get to be determining factors for the
construction of the identity of women and their experience of the aging
process.
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