Broken Down by Age and Gender

The Problem of Old Women” Redefined

Bibliographic Data

ID2369278
AuthorsDiane Gibson (0000-0001-7235-3719, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume10
Issue4
Pages433-448
Publication date1996-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2432 • E-ISSN: 1552-3977
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/089124396010004005
OpenAlexW2040597080
LanguageEN
Citations received34
References cited37

The last decade has seen the emergence of a feminist awareness of old age and, in particular, a growing awareness of what has come to be seen as 'the problem of old women.' Old women, it has been consistently demonstrated, are disadvantaged in a variety of ways in relation to old men. They are poorer, older, and sicker; they have less adequate housing and less access to private transport; they are more likely to experience widowhood, severe disability, and institutionalization. Taking 'the problem of old women' as its starting point, this article argues for a less phallocentric analysis of women in old age, which is less reliant on men as a relational category to define the conditions, experiences, and resources of older women

Developmental psychology · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Institutionalisation · Psychiatry · Sociology · Aging and Gerontology Research · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology