Thriving through Time: Resilience and Empowerment for Aging Women in Rural Indonesia

Recent research exploring aging women's realities in rural areas has revealed how gender norms, ageism, and isolation intertwine, impacting women's lives, health, and access to services. As disadvantages and exclusion increase with age, women encounter shrinking opportunities, reinforced stereotypes, and marginalization. Especially in remote Indonesian villages, aging women lack access to healthcare, income support, and basic services compared to urban counterparts. Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 35 aging rural women in Blitar Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia, this phenomenological study provides insights into the marginalization and deficient public services these women face, including worsening isolation, health issues, and instability. We found that elderly women's immersion in domestic duties makes them unaware of and unable to access important public services, such as healthcare and transportation, that could improve their situation. Though they are resilient in continuing unpaid work as their health worsens, the lack of personal time and energy due to these demanding home duties prevents access to services, including proper healthcare facilities and transportation to hospitals. Limited rural transportation and public transit further isolate immobile elderly women, constraining their access to urban health facilities and forcing reliance on family and neighbors to navigate the difficulties of getting healthcare. Though facing challenges accessing services, the women are still able to find empowerment through social groups and small-scale work that gives them pleasure. They prioritize wellness and contentment over formal employment, exhibiting resilience in self-empowering ways that enable them to address challenges. While their gender and age may reduce their dignity and agency, aging rural women can find self-empowerment by relying on each other and doing small acts of self-determination in their work. This essay explores diversities at the intersection of race, class, sexuality, and ability, thus providing nuance to inform those working in the realm of rural public services.