Description
What happens when older men become widowers? Popular books, movies, and television present widowers as lost and unable to cope or care for themselves. These stereotypes do not encapsulate the experiences of real widowers, how their daily lives change, and what being a widower means to individuals in both sociological and practical ways.
By Himself is based on in-depth interviews with twenty-six widowers over the age of sixty living in the United States and Canada. Using these interviews, Deborah K. van den Hoonaard explores masculine identity and traces the stories that widowers tell about their wives' illnesses and deaths. She also focuses on the widowers' changed relationships with their children and friends, as well as with women, and details the men's encounters with tasks such as housework and cooking. An eminently readable and accessible book, By Himself sheds new light on the social meaning of being a widower.
Reviews
?Van den Hoonaard's book is laudable for its description of widowers, and using their voices to convey what widowerhood meant for many of these men; scholars and students with an interest in this topic should certainly read it.?
- Toni Calasanti
‘By Himself makes important contributions to the study of masculinity and bereavement, and answers essential questions about the ways that gender-typed socialization processes shape older men’s experiences with bereavement transition.’
- Deborah Carr
‘Deborah van den Hoonaard has produced a rich contribution to the existing literature base on later life widowerhood… The book should appeal to a diverse audience… Established and new researchers will find something of interest in this text.’
- Pat Chambers
‘By Himself is an exciting example of the ways that qualitative research can highlight intersectional inequalities, as well as the ways micro focus can illuminate larger social forces.’
- Amy Sorensen
‘The book presents an unsentimental but sensitive view on an under-researched topic. It represents an important contribution to our better understanding of men’s experiences in later life, and I highly recommend it.’
- Kate Davidson