Microaggressions toward widowed older women in daily life: a qualitative descriptive study

Microaggressions are subtle, often normalized interpersonal expressions of bias or discrimination that may be embedded within everyday social interactions. Despite growing attention to microaggressions, little is known about how they are experienced by widowed older women, particularly within the sociocultural context of Türkiye. This study aimed to explore the everyday experiences of microaggressions among widowed older women in Türkiye. A qualitative descriptive design was employed, involving semi-structured individual interviews analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, with Sue et al. (2007) microaggression framework subsequently serving as an interpretive lens. A total of 17 women aged 65 years and older who had lost their spouses participated in the study. The findings indicated that widowed older women were subjected to intensified social surveillance following the loss of a spouse. This surveillance was accompanied by normative expectations shaped at the intersection of ageism, gender-based norms, and the absence of a male figure, regulating women's behaviors, visibility, emotional expressions, and autonomy through notions of "appropriateness." Within these everyday interactions, participants described recurring microaggressions, including second-class citizenship, protective interventionism, imposition of moral conformity, invisibilization, desexualization, and normalization of mourning. Women responded to these experiences through adaptation and internalization, characterized by silence and social withdrawal, as well as resistance and boundary-setting aimed at protecting autonomy and subjective space. The findings highlight the need for more gender-sensitive and autonomy-supportive approaches in family relationships, health and social services, and community-based practices addressing later-life well-being.