Abstract
Friendship is an intrinsic aspect of living across generations. However, the significance of friendship for the silver generation has received limited attention from gerontological studies in India. Considering that widowhood is accompanied by loneliness, bereavement and stigma, I am interested to understand the implications of widowhood for elderly women and to what extent friendship has the potential in countering and negotiating with ageing and widowhood. This is further important in demystifying the myth of transient nature of female friendship and illuminate on the spaces of female solidarity. The study has incorporated qualitative interviewing and oral narratives administered through semi-structured questionnaire conducted in the setting of the respective residence of the respondents. It was found that the social context of ageing and the structural context shape the experiences of friendship. Friendship can be low maintenance for these women; however a friend is one through interaction with whom one derives equanimity contentment and meaning for leading life without the presence of spouse. They challenged the notion of normative understanding of friendship by identifying kin members sometimes across generations as friends. Female friendship is not fragile and they feel that it is more intense and laden with emotions compared to male friendship.
Highlights
Friendship is an intrinsic aspect of living across generations
Through documentation of oral narratives, this paper seeks to explore the changes and continuity in the continuum of friendship from their marital status to widowhood, whether the loss of spouse strengthens the tie of friendship and whether consolidation of friendship is an indicator of lack of intimate bonding with the present family members
Friendship of the later-life widowed women is shaped by the social context of ageing, the collective imaginings regarding female friendships and female roles and, the time and family traditions in which they grew up
Summary
This study encapsulates female friendships for widows in later-life in negotiating ageing and widowhood. Friendship can be low maintenance for these women; a friend is one through interaction with whom one derives equanimity contentment and meaning for leading life without the presence of spouse. They challenged the notion of normative understanding of friendship by identifying kin members sometimes across generations as friends. Within the rubric of friendship, the gendered dimensions of friendship and connotations of neighbourhood networks for aged widowed women has been a less explored theme in the context of gerontological literature emerging from India. I further intend to identify the ways in which widowed women identify friends and friendship through the life course
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