practical living
home maintenance, managing finances
and transport.
Most had never questioned their familial
dependence, or indeed even considered it
‘dependence’.
Those who were reliant on late spouses
were often similarly dependent on children
for informal support. Such dependence
thwarted opportunities to grow or undertake
new, potentially positive experiences or
responsibilities in widowhood.
SOCIAL ISOLATION AND EXCLUSION
For many older adults, both widowhood
and older age can shrink social networks.
For older non-English-speaking migrants,
social exclusion from mainstream, English-
speaking society is often a reality. Due to
widowhood, social isolation and exclusion
was rife among this group, especially in rural
areas, due to the added geographic and
transport barriers.
SOCIALISING IN WIDOWHOOD
Socialising represents an important aspect
of social support and inclusion. This group
valued socialising, highlighting several
benefits, including keeping busy, combating
isolation and relieving stress.
Being widowed is somewhat stigmatising
for older Greeks, impacting on their ability
and willingness to socialise.
Many assumed declines in socialising
simply represented their lived reality as an
older widowed adult. Widows often felt
that losing a spouse hindered their ability
to socialise with others. Some widowers
attributed social declines to gender, as their
wives had primarily organised social contact
or cooked for guests.
STIGMA AND GOSSIP
Many widowed Greek migrants feel
further excluded in Australia as widows
and widowers due to cultural norms and
expectations dictating the inappropriateness
of, or stigma around, socialising in certain
contexts following widowhood. This is
particularly the case where couples or
individuals of the opposite gender are
concerned, in addition to certain social
situations. There was a sense that Greek
widows or widowers who chose to socialise
would be stigmatised or judged by others.
Fear of being subject to gossip within the
Greek community was a strict normative
consideration. Threat of gossip functioned
as a mechanism of social control, whereby
maintaining good reputations as older,
widowed adults protected their individual
and familial names from community
disapproval or shaming.
For this group of first-generation Greek
men and women, widowhood impacted
health and wellbeing in later life. Support
from their children often helped to fill the
void of spousal loss. Older migrants without
biological children, or who lack supportive
familial relationships, may find themselves
increasingly isolated and ageing in a country
that remains ‘foreign’, even decades after
migrating. As widowed women typically live
longer than men, they may require increased
support for longer periods. ■
Dr Georgia Rowley is a research associate at
Flinders University interested in qualitative
social gerontology
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