Widowhood is often described through stereotypes and images of passive, weak, lonely and dependent women. This study presents additional aspects of widows who have chosen to continue their lives without a new spouse. It thus joins the recently growing body of knowledge which presents widowhood in a less one-dimensional way while referring to the complexity and different layers of widows' lives. A qualitative study was conducted with 30 women aged 63–87 who had been widows for 1–34 years. The findings showed that the dominant experience shared by all women is one of liberation and freedom – a feeling of independence that is expressed socially, personally and economically. Thus, alongside feelings of loneliness and adaptation difficulties, they also experience strength and empowerment. The term ‘gender contract’ serves as a theoretical explanation of the independence narrative that characterises the widows; the termination of the couple's gender contract allows them to redefine their priorities, identify themselves as active instead of passive figures and create for themselves a place of their own. By bringing widowhood to the centre of the discussion, the study gives legitimacy to a discourse on feelings less spoken about, such as relief, freedom and independence. In this way, the study contributes to the ongoing debate on widows by shattering the accepted myth of widows as vulnerable, weak and dependent but without underestimating the difficulties or ignoring the women's diversity.

守寡常常被描述为消极、软弱、孤独和依赖的女性的刻板印象和形象。这项研究介绍了选择在没有新配偶的情况下继续生活的寡妇的其他方面。因此，它加入了最近不断增长的知识体系，以一种不那么一维的方式呈现寡妇身份，同时提及寡妇生活的复杂性和不同层次。对 30 名 63-87 岁、丧偶 1-34 年的女性进行了一项定性研究。研究结果表明，所有女性共同的主要经历是解放和自由——一种在社会、个人和经济上表现出来的独立感。因此，除了孤独感和适应困难之外，他们还体验到了力量和赋权。“性别契约”一词是对寡妇独立叙事的理论解释。夫妻性别契约的终止使他们能够重新定义自己的优先事项，将自己视为主动而非被动的人物，并为自己创造一个属于自己的地方。通过将丧偶身份置于讨论的中心，该研究为有关较少被提及的感受（如解脱、自由和独立）的讨论赋予了合法性。通过这种方式，该研究打破了寡妇脆弱、软弱和依赖的公认神话，但没有低估困难或忽视妇女的多样性，从而为正在进行的关于寡妇的辩论做出了贡献。