Holidays with aging parents: pleasures, duties and constraints

Abstract

I explore filial duty in the holidays from a feminist perspective through the lens of the experiences that Norwegian midlife single women have of how this duty shapes intergenerational holidays and singlehood. Data was collected through interviews, diaries and autoethnograpical reflections. Filial duty is embedded with the simultaneity of love and respect, and the women's needs and desire for agency and ‘me-time’. It is also shaped by parental age, health, personalities and roles, as well as siblings' involvement, which not only direct the family's expectations towards the women, but in turn can affect the women's sense of agency. The women's filial duty during the holidays is imbued with singlism and heteronormativity, yet is also a demonstration of love and care.