Talk:Widow

Articles in other languages
Does someone know how to add links to the articles in other languages, on the left side of the article? The corresponding articles on the Dutch, Russian, French and other Wikipedias don't show up because they're called widowhood. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weduwschap — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.173.145.52 (talk) 10:07, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Black Widow
The link at the bottom, Black Widow]y, seems to have been affected by the change of "Black Widow" to redirect to "[[Black Widow Spider". Any idea what it originally linked to, or should the link just be deleted? Kith 04:31, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Question
What term do widows and widowers use to refer to their deceased spouses?

They simply use husband or wife, sometimes preceding it with dead or late or something similar. There's no special term; the dead person was married until their death; the deceased's marital status did not change. The survivor's marital status changed, upon spouse's death, from married to widowed - hence the need for a term to describe such people. Werdnawerdna (talk) 19:04, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

There is a Brendan Fraser film about an old gay film director, and in it he talks to a religious woman, who mentions she had a husband, who died. He says "I didn't know you were married" and she corrects him to "I still am married." - basically meaning that she perceives that her own marital status is unchanged. Any views on this? I was looking for this after it came up in an English lesson when the students were discussing whether the correct answer to "Are you married?" should be "No, I'm widowed." or "Yes, but I'm widowed." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.58.195.85 (talk) 16:05, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

Widowers redirects here
This page is in need of adjustment, or someone needs to create a page on widowers. --aciel (talk) 02:34, 19 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree. --TurtleShroom! :) NOODY BRANCH! Don't mess with farmers, SpongeBob. They know how to grow food. - Knowledge is power, grab it while you can. 22:40, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Same sex marriage terms?
"A widow is a woman whose husband has died." "A man whose wife has died is a widower." "A husband is a male spouse, or participant in a marriage." "A wife is a female spouse, or participant in a marriage."

The current wording leaves out the possibility of marriage with two males or two females. I've changed it to just spouse in both terms. If there's a more correct way to word it please post your suggestion. 74.47.110.209 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:58, 29 July 2009 (UTC).


 * I agree and there seems to be some resistance to those attempting to make this change. I would suggest: "A widow is a woman whose spouse has died. A widower is a man whose spouse has died."4.28.99.98 (talk) 21:42, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Sexual availability of widows in human cultures
I've read that there was a pattern of widows in many different cultures having a role as being sex partners, sometimes for the younger males, sometimes for a restricted class of males, and in some available to all, for a price. I haven't done much research on it, but I checked the article here to see if there was anything on it and there isn't. Is this some kind of myth I've been misled on, or is it just not significant enough for mention? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.155.215.91 (talk) 15:59, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

In the bible Widow is the same status as a prostitute
See Leviticus 21:14 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.190.179 (talk) 22:54, 4 March 2011 (UTC)


 * No they aren't. That verse simply includes both prostitutes and widows in a list of people who priests cannot marry since priests are only supposed to marry virgins.--Yisunshin (talk) 20:04, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Widows and widowers - new term
I must say that I hate the W-word. Does anyone have any ideas about a more upbeat synonym?86.144.53.69 (talk) 22:16, 28 May 2011 (UTC)


 * We're talking about the spouse of a dead person, and you want "upbeat" language? Boneyard90 (talk) 16:55, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Nonsense
There is no country in Europe called Czechoslovakia anymore, and it is not true that widows wear black for the rest of their lives (or even for several years) in Europe in general. What could have been true in the 70s is not necessarily true today.

The sources listed seem to be relatively recent, but it is not clear how they relate to the statements in the article. This is a very questionable article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.172.206 (talk) 12:50, 23 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Even in the 70s this was true for some rural areas, the habit was generally dropped in the 30s. --Sokoljan (talk) 18:04, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

In the East of Slovakia many rural widows wear black for the rest of their lives. It is not universal, but pretty common though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.58.195.85 (talk) 15:59, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

Regarding the recognition of same-sex marriages
Recently IP address user 71.196.153.100 edited this article and defined widow as "a woman who has lost her husband or spouse by death" and widower as "a man who has lost his wife or spouse by death". According to his/her edit summary he did this to recognise same sex marriages. And if to say then today even Oxford defines widow as "a woman who has lost her spouse by death and has not remarried" and widower as "a man who has lost his spouse by death and has not remarried". for reference you may visit these webpages - this and this. User:Bladesmulti and User:I am One of Many have reverted the edits. But shouldn't the definitions in Wikipedia be changed to recognise the same sex marriages? -- Tamra vidhir (talk) 04:42, 10 October 2014 (UTC)


 * I think what would be required are secondary reliable sources that deal with that issue together with explanation. I am One of Many (talk) 04:52, 10 October 2014 (UTC)
 * @I am One of Many: But dictionaries are secondary reliable sources. Aren't they? -- Tamra vidhir (talk) 04:56, 10 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Just visit this Wikiarticle - Secondary source and this webpage. I think that it must immediately be changed. -- Tamra vidhir (talk) 04:58, 10 October 2014 (UTC)
 * The dictionary only says spouse, and as I see it, there should be some explanation for the change. It may well be an important change to make, but I think better and more extensive source is appropriate.  Hopefully, some other editors will comment. I am One of Many (talk) 05:01, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Nm
Nm दयाशंकर (talk) 04:21, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

Addressing a widow as
An widow may be called as Mrs. ChaitaliDas दयाशंकर (talk) 04:24, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

Mourning practices
This section seems poorly sourced. Why is wearing black limited to those named countries? Was it not more or less universal? Queen Victoria famously wore black for the rest of her life. Why are Orthodox immigrants to the US specifically singled out? It's also not true to say the practice of wearing black for the rest of one's life has completely died out. Steepleman (t) 03:36, 13 September 2021 (UTC)

>>>Sex/Gender
I have reverted to a perfectly acceptable usage of the word "sex", which somebody had changed to "gender". Quite apart from the needlessness of changing this word to begin with, there is also the fact that both occurrences of the word are modified by "either", implying that there are two. Now, while there are two biological sexes – which would justify the use of "either" – there are more than two gender identities. On the other hand, if the editor meant grammatical gender, there are three of those in English (there are he's, she's and it's among English nouns). Either way, "gender" is certainly a clumsy usage here. I would suggest a separate statement about the terminology used by LGBTQ people to refer to late spouses, but it would need to be written by somebody with knowledge about it. Kelisi (talk) 05:05, 5 November 2021 (UTC)