Never the twain shall meet: Aging men and women in Bangladesh

The story of aging in Bangladesh may be quite different, depending on whether one is a woman or a man. There are rewards for the woman if she manages to become the head of the domestic realm of an extended family, but even this is brief, as she loses that role when her husband dies. The old man, however, does not relinquish his authority nor hand over the economic reins until his own death. Male and female roles cannot be said to converge in old age, let alone cross over, as described for a number of societies. Only in their roles as grandparents do males and females share similar behaviors.