028: Melissa Hogenboom on motherhood penalties (Part 2)

Welcome to A Load of BS for the 2nd instalment of my conversation with Melissa Hogenboom, BBC science journalist and author of The Motherhood Complex.

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 lean in movement, 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.

Last week
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.

Subscribe & leave a review!
If you haven't done so already, please leave me a 5 star review here. And if you want to read my articles, and those of my guest partners, do go to aloadofbs.substack.com and subscribe there. Your support is always appreciated!