151. Preface.
- Author
-
Adelman, Marcy R.
- Subjects
- *
MIDDLE age & psychology , *LESBIANS' attitudes , *SELF-acceptance in women , *SELF-perception , *INTERPERSONAL relations , *GUARDIAN & ward - Abstract
The article presents a collection of essays to expand the understanding of lesbians at midlife by exploring complexities of relationships and bonds that sustain and nurture the lives. It spotlights relationships with friends, lovers, parents and children and experiences with dating, recovery and loss. For most lesbian and heterosexual women, midlife is a positive, spirited time. But midlife is also a time of change and growth uniquely informed by self-perceptions accumulated over half a lifetime of experiences and energized by the awareness of the finiteness of lives. Consolidation and expansion is the internal process of midlife development, and the external process is the reshaping of lives to reflect and affirm a new midlife sense. Thus, a common narrative among women at midlife which reflects this process is the acquisition of greater self-awareness and increased self-acceptance. Midlife tales typically involve transition and change, when a woman comes to terms with who she is through self-acceptance or through retrieving a self previously limited by family loyalties.
- Published
- 2000
