scholarly journals Rethinking the residual policy response: Lessons from Hong Kong older women’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 002087282110361
Author(s):  
Sam Wai Kam Yu ◽  
Iris Po Yee Lo ◽  
Ruby Chui Man Chau
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Practical Implications

This article examines older women’s experiences of searching for face masks and handling mask-related issues during COVID-19. Set within the context of the Hong Kong government’s policy reaction to the shortage of masks in early 2020, the article draws on interviews with 40 older women in Hong Kong to identify their various forms of vulnerability to welfare threats and their active and diverse responses in times of crisis. The findings reveal the implications of the government’s residual policy response for people’s vulnerability to welfare threats. They also carry practical implications for the support that social workers can provide.

scholarly journals Older Women’s Experiences of Aging and Health: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 233372141983430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dympna Tuohy ◽  
Adeline Cooney
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Aging And Health ◽  
Major Factors

Objective: This interpretive phenomenological study explored older Irish women’s experiences of aging and health related issues. Method: Data were collected using in-depth interviews with 23 older women (coresearchers). Data analysis followed the “Vancouver school of doing phenomenology” framework and included a meta-synthesis of individual case constructions. Results: “Retaining autonomy within a process of adaptation and continued engagement” describes the essential meaning of coresearchers’ experiences. Four themes were identified: “Being in control: Balancing needs and supports,” “Navigating a changing world,” “Being connected and involved,” “Trying to stay well.” Discussion: Gender shapes older women’s experience of aging, health, and ill health. Three major factors moderate their experience: autonomy and control, proactivity and adaptability, and staying engaged with life. The study concludes that aging, gender, and health are intrinsically linked and collectively shape older women’s experience. This is an important consideration when planning gender-appropriate health care services for older women.

Sexual Assault and Justice for Older Women: A Critical Review of the Literature

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 496-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Fileborn
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Tailored Approach ◽  
Health Impairments

This article provides a critical review of current literature on the sexual assault of older women—including an exploration of the specific features and emotional and physical impacts of older women’s experiences—and highlights current gaps and future directions for research, practice, and theory. A review of the literature indicates that older women constitute only a small proportion of victim/survivors. However, there is evidence to suggest that existing research underestimates the extent of this issue. Older women face particular barriers to disclosure and accessing the justice system, resulting in their experiences remaining hidden. Many of these barriers also contribute toward older women’s experiences being ignored, dismissed, or downplayed by potential bystanders. These barriers are explored in depth in this article and include cultural context, ageism, cognitive and health impairments, and living in a residential care setting. Responding to, and preventing, the sexual assault of older women requires a tailored approach—and we currently lack sufficient insight to develop appropriate responses. In closing, this article considers how we might work toward achieving “justice” for older women victim/survivors.

Visible and invisible ageing: beauty work as a response to ageism

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 653-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA HURD CLARKE ◽  
MERIDITH GRIFFIN
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Hair Dye ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Invisibility ◽  
Depth Interviews

ABSTRACTThis paper examines how older women experience and respond to ageism in relation to their changing physical appearances and within the context of their personal relationships and places of employment. We elucidate the two definitions of ageism that emerged in in-depth interviews with 44 women aged 50 to 70 years: the social obsession with youthfulness and discrimination against older adults. We examine the women's arguments that their ageing appearances were pivotal to their experience of ageism and underscored their engagement in beauty work such as hair dye, make-up, cosmetic surgery, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The women suggested that they engaged in beauty work for the following underlying motivations: the fight against invisibility, a life-long investment in appearance, the desire to attract or retain a romantic partner, and employment related-ageism. We contend that the women's experiences highlight a tension between being physically and socially visible by virtue of looking youthful, and the realities of growing older. In other words, social invisibility arises from the acquisition of visible signs of ageing and compels women to make their chronological ages imperceptible through the use of beauty work. The study extends the research and theorising on gendered ageism and provides an example of how women's experiences of ageing and ageism are deeply rooted in their appearances and in the ageist, sexist perceptions of older women's bodies.

scholarly journals Older Women’s Experiences in the Icelandic Workforce – Positive or Negative?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigurveig H. Sigurðardóttir ◽  
Ásta Snorradóttir
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Job Opportunities

The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of older women’s experiences in the labour market, how they value their job opportunities and perceived attitudes towards them. Qualitative interviews were conducted with seven women aged 57–74 years who all have at least 10 years working experience after they turned 40. Experiencing discrimination in the workforce was often mentioned by the women. Their experience is that men are less discriminated against on grounds of age than women. Older women pride themselves for participating in the workforce for being reliable, unselfish and undemanding rather than being experienced, skillful and good at their jobs. The results indicate that it is important to research further the well-being of older women in the labour market and try to change the negative attitudes and discrimination that appear prevalent. Ageism against older women can affect their well-being and health and must be prevented.

Hong Kong Chinese women's experiences of vaginal examinations in labour

Midwifery ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chit Ying Lai ◽  
Valerie Levy
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Hong Kong Chinese ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences

scholarly journals Women’s experiences of intimate partner violence in rural Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41
Author(s):  
Lesley Pitt ◽  
Jane Maidment ◽  
Yvonne Crichton-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The Impact

INTRODUCTION: Traditionally, research about intimate partner violence has focused on urban areas and has been urban-centric. However, there are some components of intimate partner violence in rural communities which are different and social workers need to be aware of these variances.METHODS: The findings presented in this article were drawn from a doctoral study in which 23 women and five men were interviewed using a qualitative approach. Alongside these interviews, key informants in the rural Taranaki district were consulted, a fieldwork journal kept and photographs taken. The data were analysed using applied thematic analysis.FINDINGS: Patriarchy was a distinct aspect of the intimate partner violence experienced by the women who participated in this study and part of the back-drop to lives. Hegemonic masculinity was a powerful contributor to the intimate partner violence experienced by some study participants. Geographic isolation was exploited as an aspect of control in intimate partner violence among the women and women had difficulty accessing services.CONCLUSION: It is important for social workers, in order to practise competently, to have an awareness of the impact of patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity. When working in rural communities, social workers need to be attentive to the factors which impact rural women who have experienced intimate partner violence, and how these factors might differ from those that impact urban women’s experiences. 

scholarly journals Surveillance, Discipline, and the Ins and Outs of Prison for Overstayers and Undocumented Workers in Hong Kong

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Constable
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
And Function ◽  
And Control

This essay reflects on the prison stories of three women migrant workers in Hong Kong. All three women initially entered Hong Kong as domestic workers, then overstayed their visas and worked illegally before surrendering to immigration and serving prison time. Their stories of life inside and outside of prison raise many questions, especially about the forms of power and control they encountered. Drawing from what Deleuze, building on Foucault, has provocatively characterized as “societies of discipline” and “societies of control” (1992), I show how both sorts of discipline and control (and punitive sovereign ones) coexist in migrant’s lives. Prison, as Foucault described, is characterized by carceral forms of discipline aimed at reforming individuals. Women’s experiences of prison, I argue, are colored by its conventional disciplinary form and function, including expectations of post-incarceration societal reincorporation. Life outside of prison, by contrast, is characterized by more fluid and diffuse assemblages, information technologies, and networks of control. The lives of overstayers before prison, can offer them freedom and temporary escape from networks of control, but also produce anxiety, fear, and exclusion. These women’s experiences thus point to limitations and provocative aspects of Foucault and Deleuze’s models, and to ways in which migratory lives are shaped and characterized by multiple types of control and discipline.

Older women and leisure.

2021 ◽  
pp. 82-91
Author(s):  
Sarah Standridge
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
General Population ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The World

Abstract This chapter aims to bring attention to some of the constraints older women face in their leisure and tourism pursuits. Being female and an older adult makes the leisure experiences of older women complex; fighting against not only patriarchal views of the world, but also the ageist stereotypes that say this is who older women are and how they should act. The chapter explains how several sexist and ageist discourses contribute to older women's understandings of what activities are appropriate and accessible to them. Using a lens of intersectionality allows for the complexity of older women's leisure and tourism experiences to be more thoroughly explained by accounting for multiple social identities. The homogenizing and oppressive nature of patriarchal views, like body image, ethic of care, and ageism, are suppressive of the possible identities and full range of leisure opportunities available to older women. As the general population continues to age, a better understanding of the complexities of older women's experiences becomes imperative. This chapter also provides ideas for how the leisure and tourism communities can begin to correct the missteps currently happening in our fields.

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