52. The Personal is Political: Birth, Grief, and Motherhood

Janet Fraser’s story is one that I think every woman and mother needs to hear. As she says, when feminists said the personal was political, they probably did not anticipate in how many ways this could be true. Janet’s baby was born still. She was then subjected to a police investigation, a coronial inquiry, media scrutiny, and public vitriol. As she articulates in her book and explains in this episode, Janet was punished for her activism for birthing women, and her refusal to be an ‘obedient mother’. This conversation shares both Janet’s personal experience, while also discussing the broader systems of our culture, society, and institutions that we live within as women and mothers. We talk about the way this can create polarization between us in motherhood, the public ‘owning’ of women’s emotions, bodily autonomy in birth, the problems with talking about ‘choice’, and the complexity of grief. Janet is a mother, poet, historian, and has been National Convenor of the Australian homebirth network, Joyous Birth since 2004. She writes at Patreon, where she foments women’s studies and revolution at Despatches from the Matriarchy. You can catch her on Facebook and Twitter. Order Janet's book, 'Born Still: A Memoir of Grief' - https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950120