Welcome to A Load of BS for the second instalment of my conversation with Melissa Hogenboom, BBC science journalist and author of The Motherhood Complex.
For those of you who didn't catch Part 1 last week, I highly recommend that you tune in. Melissa's book is the inspiration for this interview and it is a raw and personal exposé of motherhood, womanhood and all its associated challenges, biases and prejudices. In these conversations, I want to give these issues oxygen and lay a small platform for change. So there is both historical context here, but also we're raising questions and proposing solutions towards a more equal future in which women are better supported by society at large; which is a diplomatic way of saying men.
Last week we addressed motherhood and sacrifice, gender biases, matrescence, the mum brain and expectations of perfection.
In today’s show
Today, we're talking about the good mother stereotype, the lean in movement, the prohibitive cost of child care, maternal gatekeeping, the motherhood penalty, the secrecy of miscarriage, women's cognitive labour load, pre and post natal depression, the positive and negative effects of technology on family life and the impact of writing the book on Melissa's life.
You can find my own personal account on fatherhood here so I'd love you to read it in accompaniment to these conversations. And of course share with me your own experiences.
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Next time on A Load of BS
Next week, we're going to discuss the story and meaning of rituals with pioneering anthropologist and cognitive scientist Dr Dimitris Xygalatas, who runs the experimental anthropology lab at the University of Connecticut. Dimitris has been interviewed about his ground breaking work by the New York Times, the Guardian, PBS, the History Channel and many other outlets. If you fancy a taster of Dimitris (that's not a ritual), why not check out his TED talks.
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Be well and till next time,
Daniel
Melissa Hogenboom on motherhood penalties