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Singlehood: Transitions within a Gendered World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Lorraine Davies
Lorraine Davies*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Lorraine Davies, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C2, Tel.: (519) 661–2111, ext. 85137, Fax: (519) 661–3200. ([email protected])
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Abstract

This study draws on the life histories of heterosexual childless individuals who have never married, to explore the more subtle ways that age norms affect the subjective experience of singlehood. Specifically, it examines whether or not it is appropriate to speak of transitions in the experience of singlehood. The data clearly reveal the experience of a transition to singlehood. This transition is represented by a change in self-attributed status that occurs over time and is associated with a cultural timetable for marriage. It marks the experience of “becoming single” that occurs when an individual identifies more with singlehood than with marriage. Moreover, I explore 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 persons and serve to broaden the definition of the concept “transition” to include those not obviously marked by normative events.

Résumé

Dans cette étude, nous nous sommes intéressé au cycle de vie des hétérosexuels sans enfants qui ne se sont jamais mariés pour découvrir les façons subtiles dont les normes liées à l'âge influent sur l'expérience subjective de l'état de célibataire. Plus précisément, nous nous sommes demandé si l'on pouvait parler de transitions à l'état de célibataire. Les données recueillies démontrent clairement que tel est le cas. La perception que l'individu a de son statut change avec le temps ; elle est liée aux normes socioculturelles qui régissent le mariage. L'individu se « transforme en célibataire » lorsqu'il s'identifie davantage au célibat qu'au mariage. Nous avons aussi cherché à savoir en quoi l'état de célibataire était une expérience sexuée. Les conclusions de notre étude confirment que la théorie du parcours de vie s'applique bien à la trajectoire individuelle des célibataires, et permettent d'élargir la définition du concept de « transition » pour inclure ceux qui ne semblent pas, à priori, marqués par les événements normatifs.

Keywords

never-marriedsinglehoodtransitionsgenderagingjamais marié(e)sétat de célibatairetransitionssexe, vieillissement
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2003 , pp. 343 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2003

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Footnotes

*I would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of Ingrid Connidis, Julie Ann McMullin, Danièle Bélanger, and Clint Wilson on previous drafts of this article and the excellent research assistance of Patricia Jane Carrier. I am grateful to Ellen Gee, who was particularly supportive of this work. The article was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. A previous version was presented at the Canadian Gerontological Association.

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