MMG
My mother's generation
This year my mother will be 80 years old. I remember my grandmother's 80th birthday. In my 17 year old mind she was my wonderfully alive grandmother, but ancient none the less. It was hard to imagine her otherwise than a grandmother. She was a typical middle class woman of her time. She went to an all-girls high school and worked for a few years until she married. Any professional ambitions she might have had, stopped at that point.
My mother's generation - women born before the end of the second world war - was different, even if society sometimes was not. They did pursue their ambitions. They studied, worked and build careers. But in the late fifties and early sixties you were often fired upon your marriage, so many women rebuild careers later, after the children were older. Some women did not have the opportunity to study when they were young, but had to go out and work at a very early age. My only worry in the world at that age was the next grade in school.
Born between 1925 and 1945, they were the first generation to take control of their own lives, independent of parents, spouse or society. Some did it quietly, others visibly and actively. Some because they wanted to, others because they had to. But all in all they paved the road for their daughters and granddaughters to be whatever they want to be.
And now, at 73+, it is a generation of active and independent women, an example for my daughter and me. Because they faced the challenges and persevered, women today can worry about work-life balance. They can have families, or not, and be ambitious. This series is an ode to strong women everywhere.
Ongoing project: started march 2018
