Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood
That women bring home the bacon, fry it up, serve it for breakfast, and use its greasy remains to make candles for their children’s science projects is hardly news. Yet how parenting responsibilities get sorted out under these conditions remains unresolved. Neither government nor private business has adapted to this reality, throwing the burden bac
... See moreJennifer Senior • All Joy and No Fun
“The terrain of mothering is not limited to the people who give birth to children,” Angela Garbes writes in her new book, “Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change.” Raising kids is “not a private hobby, not an individual duty,” she goes on. “It is a social responsibility, one that requires robust community support. The pandemic revealed that mo... See more
Jia Tolentino • Can Motherhood Be a Mode of Rebellion?
Our culture is really doing a ten out of ten job in caring in the worst possible ways. There is no infrastructure to support parents of caregivers, so care makes you poor and exhausts you. (Solution: Pay caregivers! Universal and affordable childcare and eldercare!) Parenting has become more instrumental than it used to be: kids are a project, anot... See more
Anne Helen Petersen • "I Went Into Motherhood Determined Not to Lose Myself in It."
‘But you don’t know that changes to legislation would mean women make different choices; they have free will, and the women I know who have left their career to look after their children are very happy with…
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Joeli Brearley • The Motherhood Penalty: How to stop motherhood being the kiss of death for your career
I want to drill down on one aspect of the intro, too, because I think it’s essential: how has care “curdled,” for lack of a better word, in our minds? And what have been the implications of that degradation?
Definitely curdled. When I say the word “care” I think it often brings to mind the smell of diapers or that unpleasant combo of urine and disi... See more
Definitely curdled. When I say the word “care” I think it often brings to mind the smell of diapers or that unpleasant combo of urine and disi... See more