Initiate, Bequeath, and Remember: Older Women's Transmission Role Within the Family

Abstract

In social sciences, little attention has been paid to the role and functions of grandmothers in the family, and still less, to their role as legators and transmitters of values. Do older women have the impression they are transmitting or have transmitted something to succeeding generations? If so, what do they believe they are transmitting or have transmitted to their children and grandchildren? What legacies do they think it is important to leave for the next generation? How do they want to be remembered? These are the questions the authors answer in this article, based on a qualitative research of 25 in-depth interviews conducted with three generations of older women (65–74, 75–84, and 85 and older) from Quebec.

Keywords:

• aging women
• grandmothers
• intergenerational transmission
• values
• legacy
• family memories

Notes

1. See, for example, Attias-Donfut et al., 2002; Bengston, Giarrusso, Mabry, & Silverstein, 2002; Ryan et al., 2004; Quéniart and Hurtubise, 2009.

2. Research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC 2007–2011).

3. See, for example, Attias-Donfut et al., 2002; Bengston et al., 2002.

4. See, for example, Arrondel and Masson, 2005; Kolm and Mercier-Ythier, 2006.

5. See, for example, Vollerbergh, Iedema, and Raaijmakers, 2001; Kopera-Frye and Wiscott, 2000; and Hunter and Rowles, 2005These authors developed an interesting typology of legacies (biological, material, and values legacies) based on a study conducted with a small sample of men and women (11) aged between 34 and 91 (not only elderly women). But their analysis is not broken down according to sex and age, so we do not know whether a specific type of legacy is associated more with one generation than another, or more with women than men.

6. See, for example, Beck and Jennings, 1991; Jennings and Niemi, 1968; Percheron, 1985; Muxel, 2007; Tedin, 1974.

7. See, for example, Meintel, 2002; Park and Howard Eklund, 2007.

8. Research that has included grandparents has generally focused on the relationships between them, their children, and their grandchildren, rather than on transmission as such.

9. The interviews were conducted by Alexandrine Bourdhouxe and Valérie Amyot, master's sociology students, and by Isabelle Marchand, research officer, who holds a master's in communications; we would like to thank them for their essential contributions to this research.

10. To ensure the reliability of our findings, each interview was analyzed by a research officer and by the two lead researchers, and the findings were discussed before being validated by the group.

11. We are currently doing a new joint research project, which will be addressing these issues.

12. Some of our respondents have suffered family tragedies and painful situations that are more difficult to talk about. They maintained a reserve in these areas, preferring to keep the more painful memories to themselves.