Gender, older female bodies and autoethnography: Finding my feminist voice by telling my illness story

This article focuses on my experience of thyrotoxicosis and is rooted in the tradition of medical sociologists reflecting upon their own illnesses. I use the method of autoethnography to contribute to broader academic debates on acute illness as a neglected research area and embed my reflections in feminist work which makes connections between bodies, gender, illness, health and healing. Autoethnography, as an autobiographical research genre, displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to cultural. My article aims to reveal how acute illness can be (1) viewed critically from the perspective of menopausal bodies, constructed by biomedics and (2) benefit from theoretical explorations of Foucault's concept, technologies of the self and Braidotti's feminist notions, nomadic flexibility and identifications. Given that I illustrate these aims through the methodology of autoethnography, my article has both theoretical and methodological implications.