Episode 05: Mothering for Social Change

The numbers are slightly different depending on which report you read, but I’m going to go with this one. During the pandemic, women here in the United States lost more than five million jobs. Now, of course, many people faced layoffs and have since been re-employed but those who are back to “business as usual” are mostly men. Women became the ones to quit their careers in order to care for their families while schools and daycares around the country shuttered, and many haven’t been able to return.

The pandemic uncovered a pretty heinous underbelly of our government and systemic structure. It turns out that women are expected to do it all with very little support and the value that we place on working people all but disintegrates if it’s not wrapped up in a revenue-producing bow. Which leads me to wonder, what kind of world do we live in if the people who are bearing and raising the next generation of changemakers don’t really count? 

Here on the show with us today is Angela Garbes, author of the brand-new book Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change.  Essential Labor is one of those books that activate your brain in ways you never thought possible, bringing to light a multitude of social injustices faced by mothers and caregivers and especially those of color. Angela asks so many questions about how we value the most essential role on the planet and how much different our society and our culture would be if we supported people in roles of caregiving instead of perpetuating the perceived insignificance of our own creation.  

Angela’s first book, Like a Mother, was the only book I read during my own pregnancy and its pages are worn from my own revisiting as well as the fingerprints of friends. Having a baby is terrifying and Angela’s cut-through-the-BS style not only answered so many of my curiosities but also left me feeling empowered and ready to become a mom. If you’re pregnant or even if you already have children, order this book now. It’s a celebration of motherhood, femininity, and hopefully a mark in the cultural shift that we so desperately need.

Click the player below to have a listen!