Chapter 4 82 Interviewer: And where do you think that difference comes from? Interviewee: I think that in some areas it is true that a man is still expected to hide his flaws and with a woman it is usually less so. Perhaps not in your own circle, but for an outsider, a third party does. Interviewer: Yes, yes, and is that something you’ve felt or thought about yourself? I shouldn’t show it? Interviewee: No, no, never. I’ve never felt it and never thought about it, but I’ve heard about it, let me put it this way.” [Interview 34, Man] Gendered stereotypical views related to PD Several participants mentioned stereotypical views about gender related behaviours, roles, or norms. In these cases, gender was made salient through stereotypical beliefs related to PD and wider normative notions of femininity, masculinity, women, and men in general. It is important to emphasize that in most of the interviews, many of these stereotypical views were not reconstructed in the personal contexts of participants as they often did not feel that they, or the people close to them, performed or ‘fitted in’ these stereotypical gendered views themselves. For a clear example of how a participant can bring forward a stereotypical statement, followed by a deconstruction; see the quote of interview 34 above. Though in some cases, a stereotypical view was confirmed in the personal experiences of the participant. To emphasize this distinction, we will use an Asterix (*) when stereotypical performances of gender related aspects were also confirmed in the lived experience of the participants themselves. Gendered invisibility of PD According to some participants, PD is often considered to affect mostly men and affected women are less visible. “Interviewer: Do you think there are aspects of Parkinson’s, or your experience with Parkinson’s, that are specific to you as a woman? Interviewee: I find that difficult because I, I’ve already thought about that because I knew that the conversation was about this. A lot of people told me that they all thought of men when they heard that I had Parkinson’s. Men get it anyway and men who are a bit older, and then you immediately think of all those movement disorders but yes, I had none of those [symptoms].” [Interview 13, Woman]* “The first thing is, I think, a man with Parkinson’s just shuffles down the street, with or without a [supportive] tool or a woman on his arm. And if I pay close attention, when I walk through the mall I would, I think, I see them. [...] I think that women
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