the Pain Mothers Must Never Expose:: Confronting Silences of Maternal Life in Bloomington, MN

In this collection, contributors reject the narrative that suggests that the pain of mothers must never be exposed. They allow their pain to wander outside the frame of the requisite pathos; individual pieces reveal pain to be a complex and intersectional practice that encompasses denial and disenfranchisement where pain is birthed and named; disorientation leading to a search for stable ground; destabilization that inspires non-normative mothering; and discovery as an active stance that transforms intergenerational pain. As contributors take up the challenge of unravelling their stories, they reach for a life-sustaining and hopeful shift in consciousness that allows them to listen to what pain has to offer without judgment; to imagine and create a different future for themselves, their children, and the world; and to let go of maternal pain and suffering as a way of being. Readers will be inspired by raw honesty, authenticity, and willingness to embrace story as a gift to self.