In today’s episode I am chatting with author and lecturer Amanda Watson. I seriously loved this conversation. Her book The Juggling Mother: Coming Undone in the Age of Anxiety was recently released, and it is all about the social expectation that women, particularly as they have children, must juggle an unfair share of paid and unpaid work. In Amanda’s words, “I had been researching how working moms are represented in media when I became pregnant and hit the job market. That's when the subject matter hit me on another level. I had to admit that as I wrote critically about how motherhood and work are represented across media, I felt myself secretly want to be her: the beautiful, fit, wealthy, working mom who juggles to perfection. That tension is where this book begins.”
Amanda shares her research on the representation of motherhood, specifically in the context that it relates to her personal experience. We chat about the importance of our kids seeing us take space for ourselves, to pursue our passions and do things that are about us, not just them. We talk about the "shoulds" and where the pressure comes from that mothers feel on a daily basis. Amanda's research and ongoing curiosity made for an awesome conversation with so many ah-ha moments.
This is an important conversation for ALL mothers.
For the full show notes, Amanda's bio and contact info, got www.momcamplife.com/podcast.
