Women and later life: The discursive construction of identities within family relationships

Abstract

The social construction of experiences, identities and relationships is investigated as people age within the discourses and institutional practices of family life. Special consideration is given to the generation of knowledge from the perspective of women 's lives. Mothers'and daughters'accounts of their relationships can be analyzed in terms of resistance to, and complicity with, the notion of mother-daughter closeness as part of a ‘femininity discourse’. Relational and identity implications for women in later life are: lack of mother-daughter closeness can constitute a threat to face; generational clashes between old-fashioned and modern mothers may result in the forfeiting of expectations of closeness and; older mothers who do not fit an idealized grandmaternal image may struggle to resist categorization as evil maternal figures. Passive, stoical acceptance may be a recurrent feature of the few subject positions available to elderly women which enable them to avoid threats to face.