Women: On being middle aged and single

• Main Authors: Cueto, Ruth J., Fusilero, Sharon Eve R., Ilmedo, Celeste
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Subjects: Women > Sociological aspects; Middle aged women; Adulthood; Single women; Career changes; Life change events
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/10061
• Institution: De La Salle University

Middle age is a time of transition. It is a time when women and men leave behind the physical and behavioral characteristics of adulthood and enter a period of life where new physical and behavioral attributes will predominate. Transition means adjustment to new interests, new values and new patterns of behavior. By middle age, most unmarried women have adjusted to being single and are fairly happy with the pattern of life they have achieved for themselves. Some, however, have not made a satisfying adjustment to being single and may encounter difficulties during this stage of their lives. With a view of understanding more about the phenomenon of middle-age single women, the researchers chose to proceed with this study. The study has three main concern namely: the reasons why some women remain single, the advantages and disadvantages of being single and the transitions these women as middle aged adults and at the same time single are encountering. All the concerns of this study was categorized into social (family, friends, career, relationship with men) and personal aspect (emotional and physical). This study is descriptive in nature. Data were derived using interview to drive information on the problems raised in the study. The study's respondents consisted of 12 single women aged 40 to 60 who are presently working and are college graduates. The general findings of the study can be summarized as follows. First, most of the respondents tend to remain single because of their responsibilities for their aging parents and their younger siblings. Other common responses were (1) they believe that the right guy did not come along, (2) they wanted to finish their studies first, (3) they were traumatized by past suitors and that they didn't like the family they belong to. Second, the most usual advantage of being single is freedom, that she can go out anytime and anywhere with friends and that she is independent. Third, the most common reply on disadvantage of being single is that they have no one to confide their problems with. Other responses include (1) no one will take care of them when they grow old (2) and that they worry about having no children at all. Fourth, difficulties encountered were generally more on death of a loved one, worried about families, dilemmas at work and financial problems. Furthermore, they were bothered by health and weight problems. Fifth, the most usual regret in the social aspect was that they did not pursue their chosen career and in the personal aspect, is they wanted to change their negative attitudes. Lastly, the most common aspect in the reexamination of the respondents were with regards to their career and their views of marriage, in the social aspect. On the other hand, the most common in the personal aspect is that they do not fear death and that they want to pursue further studies like to have a masters degree and to go abroad.