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Sleepers Wake! the Gendered Nature of Sleep Disruption among Mid-life Women
Jenny Hislop
j.hislop{at}soc.surrey.ac.uk
Sara Arber
University of Surrey s.arber{at}soc.surrey.ac.uk
This article provides a window onto the gendered nature of our lives through the study of sleep. Drawing on empirical data from focus groups and audio sleep diaries, the article explores sleep from the perspective of mid-life women. It shows that sleep is a socially patterned phenomenon which reflects the gendered nature of womens multiple roles and responsibilities. For many women in mid-life, the reality of sleep is one of disruption, with the bedroom becoming an invisible workplace in which womens sleep needs are compromised by the unpaid physical and emotional labour necessary for the well-being and maintenance of their family.The article suggests that the sleep context may represent a further arena in which gender inequalities are manifest, both in relation to the patterns of womens sleep and in womens responses to sleep disruption.
Key Words: gender mid-life relationships roles sleep women
Sociology, Vol. 37, No. 4,
695-711 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/00380385030374004

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