FEMINIST FRIDAY: Podcasts On Parenting With Disabilities, Black Maternal Health & The Motherhood Gap

Welcome to another Feminist Friday column – that part of our week where we share a handful of our fave videos and pieces of content we can’t get enough of at the moment. This week we’re doing another podcast round-up (we know, it’s been a while!) and our central theme is families and parenting.

First up is a podcast series created by Rooted in Rights – a video and social media advocacy program of Disability Rights Washington led by people with disabilities. They released a podcast series in April called ‘Parenting Without Pity’ which honors the experience and knowledge of disabled parents. This twenty-episode podcast series features disabled parents offering compassionate and frank advice and guidance to non-disabled parents of disabled children. These podcast episodes will serve as an online resource for parents of disabled children, and can be accessed through their website.

In the spirit of the disability community’s motto, “Nothing About Us Without Us,” Rooted in Rights believe that disabled people should be the ones writing, producing, shooting and editing their own stories. They tell authentic, accessible stories to challenge stigma and redefine narratives around disability, mental health and chronic illness. The org’s desire to create the Parenting without Pity project comes from their experiences of disability as children. The Program Director is a​ ​disabled mom​ of a disabled child, whose own experience being raised by non-disabled parents informs her desire to help non-disabled parents be better allies for their disabled children. Watch the series trailer below and be sure to listen to all the episodes available now on the Rooted in Rights website:

The second podcast series this week comes from Bloomberg media, called The Pay Check. It’s an award-winning discussion series about women, work and money, and illustrates that issues like the wage gap are much more than just whether women get paid the same as men for doing the same or comparable job. In fact, this series shows just how crucial not just women are to the US economy, but how important it is for mother’s to be able to continue working without discrimination.

We often talk about how the wage gap is between women and men, but according to some very depressing statistics, the wage gap is actually between mothers, and everyone else. Diving into issues like pregnancy discrimination, the cost of childcare, how dads factor into the picture, and the economic benefits of paid parental leave, this is a series that every parent or future parent needs to listen to immediately. Check out the trailer for season 2 below from host Rebecca Greenfield and subscribe to listen to the full series on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and Pocket Casts.

VERY IMPORTANT PERSONAL NEWS: The Pay Check podcast is coming back for a second season !!! We’re digging into the number one reason women make less money than men: MOTHERHOOD. Listen to the trailer RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW: https://t.co/Hs6rMFrLrm

— Rebecca Greenfield (@rzgreenfield) March 27, 2019

The final podcast series this week we recommend you subscribe to is called Black Women for Wellness. The second annual Black Maternal Health Week just came and went (April 11-17) which saw a plethora of discussion panels and workshops with medical professionals, journalists, advocates and birth workers in the black community come together to discuss America’s shocking maternal mortality problem, which is rising, and more prominent among black mothers. With interviews discussing the intersecting issues such as socio-economic status, racism within the healthcare system, birthing options, and organizations that are working to promote the best and healthiest interests of black women, this is an important series.

We are in the middle of great uncertainty politically speaking in terms of our healthcare system and its future in the United States. But those with money will always have access to the best options for treatment. What happens to people who get left behind by the system? Why aren’t our policy-makers, especially those who claim to be pro life, paying attention to the maternal mortality crisis. As it stands today, only one federal bill has been passed by Congress (and signed by the president) to tackle this issue. We need to do better, and it starts with local organizers and listening to people who are closest to this issue. Take a listen to a preview of the Black Women for Wellness podcast below and be sure to subscribe on iTunes.