Autoethnography of mothering

These are four poems from a collection that burst out of me around the time of my 50th birthday. I am a social and cultural gerontologist and so 50 is a particularly significant age—it is the marker of having finally qualified as an older person, at least in physiological terms. It also signifies menopause and the end of the reproductive stage of life. That significant birthday coincided with my eldest son reaching adulthood. This confluence of life events caused me to reflect on how I have spent my adult life. The past 20 years have been dedicated to academic life, but always within the context and confines of raising a family. The pressure to perform both roles, daily and to a high standard is, perhaps, the most striking message from these poems

Autoethnography · Context (archaeology) · Poetry · Raising (metalworking) · Social life · Empathy and Medical Education · Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism