What’s Age Got to Do With It? A Case Study Analysis of Power and Gender in Husband-Older Marriages:

This qualitative study explores assumptions of family scholars who draw on age heterogamy and marriage-gradient approaches to suggest that marriages between older husbands and much younger wives are likely to be male-dominated, with traditional gender arrangements. Drawing on resource theory and marital power perspectives, we analyze the life histories, psychosocial understandings, and day-to-day arrangements of both partners in eight husband-older marriages to uncover their unique features. We present four cases with distinct dynamics to suggest that future research needs to consider that (a) husbands’ older age does not automatically translate into male dominance and rigid gender arrangements; (b) when combined with additional forms of heterogamy, such as racial status, social class, occupational prestige, and education, age heterogamy is likely to be associated with male dominance; (c) men can experience a shift toward more marital sharing and androgyny upon remarriage to a younger woman; and (d) gende...