Since caregiving is often viewed as an extension of the female's tradi
tional role of caring, it could easily be assumed that women would hav
e the advantage in the role of primary caregiver to an impaired partne
r. Research however does not support this. Rather, studies have found
that women, and particularly wives, who are caring for a memory impair
ed relative have repeatedly identified greater distress in the caregiv
ing role than their male counterparts. Unfortunately, to date, the dif
ferential reactions of women are poorly understood. This limits effect
ive intervention. The purpose of this article then, is to begin to dev
elop a framework for conceptualizing the gendered impact of caring for
a memory-impaired partner in order to better understand women's, and
particularly wives', reaction. Specifically, using a relational perspe
ctive the experience of living with a memory impaired husband will be
explored.